Royal Court of Terabithia
by MadTom
Summary: BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA 2007 fanfic. Back by popular demand, a sequel to GROUNDHOGS AT TERABITHIA! LDD, of course! Nine years after the movie, followed by the events of GROUNDHOGS, the characters prepare for the most joyous of occasions. COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Preface

Standard disclaimer, I do not own the characters and am not using them for profit. They belong to Katherine Paterson and David Paterson, Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media etc.

Back by popular demand! I hadn't really planned on doing any more Bridge to Terabithia fanfics beyond _Groundhogs at Terabithia_ and the darker _Last Battle of Terabithia_. But I've gotten a number of reviews and PMs asking for a sequel to _Groundhogs_. As I've told several people with whom I've corresponded, and actually stated on one of my reviews of her works, NarnianMelody is my official "Go To Gal" for _Bridge to Terabithia_ "Leslie Didn't Die" fanfics. Her universe is pretty much along the lines of my Groundhogs storyline except for details in the way Jesse saves Leslie's life the day the rope broke.

But I just had this one story left in me. Chapter1 is mostly moments of bonding between Queen Leslie and Princesses May Belle and Joyce Ann. And if we continue my storyline of _Groundhogs_, this is essentially what I see happening with Jess and Leslie several years down the road. The characters are more or less the same ages as they are in _Last Battle_, but with a much more joyous if not outright fluffy occasion.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Are you sure Mom and Dad aren't gonna count this as your wedding present?" May Belle asked, only half-jokingly.

"Of course they aren't!" Jesse replied. "Leslie and I paid for the darned thing. Dad just got it for us cheap at his store!"

"The darned thing" was an electric generator. He'd driven his dad's pickup as far into the woods as he could with it, and now he and Leslie were trudging it the rest of the way to the creek, while his sisters, sixteen year old May Belle and eleven year old Joyce Ann, walked along on either side of the wheelbarrow trying to keep it and the rest of the contents from falling out. Prince Terrien walked along close to his mistress's heels.

"Besides," Leslie added, "it isn't like this is something we're going to be using at our apartment when we go back to school. This is for Terabithia, meaning you two..." she nodded toward Jesse's sisters, "are going to be using it way more than we are while we're away at school."

"Electricity in Terabithia?" Joyce Ann wrinkled her nose. "Jess, that's like you switching your major from Painting to Computer Graphics!"

"Hey, it's a Royal Edict, Joyce Ann!" he said, then shot a loving smile at Leslie. "And not from me! The Queen has spoken!"

"Yeah!" May Belle laughed. "The same Queen whose parents still don't have a TV in the house! Go figure!"

"That just proves something Leslie and I learned a long time ago, May Belle. "You are not your parents. Leslie isn't _her_ mom or dad, any more than you or I or Joyce Ann are Mom or Dad!"

"Besides," Leslie smiled, "there's nothing in the Constitution of Terabithia that says you have to be a Luddite to be a Terabithian!"

"What constitution?" Joyce Ann squinted.

"The one Jess and Leslie have been making up in their heads as they go along for the last nine years!" May Belle laughed.

"And what's a Luddite?"

"Look it up in the dictionary, Joyce Ann!" May Belle continued to laugh. "You'll find a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Burke!"

"Watch it, May Belle!" Leslie glared at her. "It's still not too late for me to change my Maiden of Honor!"

"I'm sorry, Leslie!" May Belle said quickly. "I'll be good! I promise!" How many girls get to be the Maiden of Honor at a wedding at sixteen? Even if it's your brother marrying the girl next door, an only child with no sisters of her own. She wasn't going to blow it like the older Aarons girls, Brenda and Ellie, who had long ago forfeited any chance of getting that honor. Probably that first day Jesse brought Leslie in the house when they were in Fifth Grade, and Brenda and Ellie referred to them as "Weird and Weirder," thinking wrongly that the young couple were out of earshot.

"My parents may be a lot of things--" Leslie continued, "Bohemians, latter-day hippies-- but if they were Luddites, they wouldn't have been driving nothing but Mercedes SLs since before I was born! And _I'm_ not a Luddite. It's just that setting up electricity out here hasn't been a priority. Until now."

They reached the bridge and set down the wheelbarrow. Jess and Leslie, who were both on Track and Field scholarships at Eastwood University, and May Belle who was both on the track team and in the Junior ROTC program at Lark Creek High, weren't even really winded, but they gave Joyce Ann a couple of minutes to catch her breath.

"Everyone ready?" Leslie continued. "Right there on the pallet. Joyce Ann, you've got the gas can." She and May Belle grabbed one side of the mounting frame of the generator while Jesse grabbed the other side. "On three. One, two, three!"

They lifted the device out of the wheelbarrow bed and walked it the few steps to a wooden forklift pallet that Leslie had set up near the base of the bridge on an earlier trip. "Ready, down," she said. They set it down, and Joyce Ann brought up the rear carrying a red plastic five gallon can of gasoline.

"Okay, thanks, Jess," Leslie smiled. "Us girls will take it from here."

He glanced over at the frayed remains of the old rope swing on the overhanging branch just past the bridge on the same side of the creek. "You sure you don't need me for anything?" he asked, a little anxiety coming through in his voice.

"Jess," she replied with a little exasperation, "we've been talking about this ever since we set the date! This is something _I've_ been dreaming about ever since our first kiss, if not before that! This is _my_ project! Your seeing any part of it is like seeing me in my wedding gown before the ceremony. Bad mojo!"

"Okay," he sighed and forced a smile. He fished in his pocket for the keys to the pickup and placed them in her hand. "Your Majesty, I leave you in the capable hands of Their Royal Highnesses! And vice-versa." He bowed formally, then placed his hands on her waist and kissed her.

"We should be done before dinnertime," she smiled. He started running back toward the cattle pasture and the road home.

May Belle waited until her brother was out of sight. "It's amazing! It's been nearly half your lifetimes ago, more than half _my_ lifetime ago, and he still gets anxious about leaving you behind in the woods, even with me and Joyce Ann with you."

"Yeah, he can be a little overbearing and overprotective when he gets like that, but that's a big part of why I love him so much," Leslie turned to her. "Remember, _that's_ the guy you told me you wanted me to keep instead of your quote-unquote real brother!"

They both laughed. "And I still do!" May Belle replied.

"I guess I _need_ him to be overprotective," Leslie added. "God only knows how many other times he's kept me from getting seriously hurt or doing something stupid, besides that day on the rope swing. I keep my eyes on the stars, and Jess keeps my feet on the ground."

"And since when are you a Casey Kasem fan?" May Belle smiled.

Leslie looked at her sourly. "For your information, Casey Kasem stole that quotation from Theodore Roosevelt, my family's biggest hero! In fact, TR's family put that quotation at the gateway to his burial plot in Oyster Bay, New York."

"Oh!" May Belle shrugged. "I never knew!"

"Neither do most Casey Kasem fans!" Leslie sighed. She looked up through the forest canopy at the broken clouds. "It's not supposed to rain until much later if it rains at all, but just in case, you guys should set up your pup tent first, then we'll get started on running the lights and extension cords out to the Castle."

"Pup _tents_," May Belle said. "I was able to talk Major Padilla into letting me sign out four shelter halves from ROTC supply."

"Great! Joyce Ann, I'll help you with yours. May Belle, you'll just have to talk us through it."

They stepped back to the wheelbarrow and May Belle started handing out some of the items in it. "Okay, first unroll the ground mat. Then put the air mattress on top of it, then the sleeping bag. We can blow up the air mattresses with the electric pump later, after we're done at the Castle..."

May Belle directed Joyce Ann and Leslie in snapping together the shelter halves, assembling and raising the tent poles and stretching and staking down the corners of the shelter. She was consciously not being authoritarian, not being a Cadet First Sergeant talking to a bunch of 9th Graders, never forgetting that she was still talking to her little sister and her future sister-in-law over three years her senior. But she was strictly business. They set up the two tents on either side of the bridge approach. After they were done, she suggested, "Hey, Leslie, since we're worried about the possibility of showers tonight, why don't we take the rest of the stuff to the Castle and then save stringing the cords and lights for last?"

"Good idea!" Leslie replied, then led them back to the wheelbarrow. "May Belle, you take the air pump, Joyce Ann, how about you take the linens and pillows, I'll take the mattress and the quilt." She handed out the items accordingly, stacking a folded quilt on top of a brand new, never opened box labeled "Air Mattress, Queen" and carrying them in her arms. She led the two sisters across the bridge. "Come on, PT!" she called to her dog, who again followed close to her heels.

"Hey, Leslie," Joyce Ann asked, "have you _really_ been planning this since the first time Jess kissed you?"

"Maybe not _planning_ it, but dreaming of it. Maybe even before he kissed me," Leslie smiled. "I think I may have been in love with him before he fell in love with me."

"I think he had to get over his silly crush with Mrs. Brubaker-- _Miss Edmunds_ back then-- first!" May Belle giggled.

"I can see Jess having a crush on Mrs. Brubaker," Joyce Ann nodded. "She's a lot like you, Leslie!"

"Yes, she's even told me that herself!" Leslie nodded.

"So you guys were, like, my age when you first kissed?"

"Just about."

"You've been together practically my whole life, then," Joyce Ann nodded with awe. "That's a long time!"

"I still can't believe that you two are still saving yourselves for the wedding night after all these years that you've been together!" May Belle shook her head with a smile.

"Well," Leslie said, "I'm not holding a gun to your head telling you what to believe, May Belle!"

"I mean, come on, Leslie! I'm sure everyone else who knows you guys assumes you've been doing it! You've been living together in a one bedroom apartment for the past year!"

"May Belle, when have you ever known me to give a crap about what other people think about me or Jess?" Leslie rolled her eyes. "We rented that apartment after Freshman year at Eastwood because we tried the dorm scene and it wasn't for us. Plus we were each driving our roommates crazy hanging out in each other's rooms all the time. Living together made sense. As for the one bedroom," she smiled, "Jess has been my soul mate _and_ my Cuddle Buddy ever since we were Joyce Ann's age, so sleeping in the same bed every night is no big deal." She balanced the box and quilt in her left arm as she reached down and ran the fingers of her right hand through the fur on the top of Prince Terrien's head. "And this little guy sleeps in the room with us, usually sleeps in the bed with us! We both feel funny about getting too frisky in front of him, so he's like a libido damper!"

"A Virgin Alarm!" May Belle laughed. She saw that Leslie was searching her memory, trying to recall where she'd heard that phrase. "Like Dot Matrix the robot in _Spaceballs_!"

"Oh, yeah!" Leslie giggled. "Exactly! For both me and Jess. So take our word that we haven't 'done it'! And how far we've actually gone is between me and him!"

May Belle grinned and nodded knowingly back toward the creek. "And whoever has stumbled upon the two of you skinnydipping together out here!"

The usually unflappable Leslie Burke turned bright red and stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh!"

"Relax, Leslie!" May Belle laughed. "As far as I know, it's just been Joyce Ann and me!"

"We, uh..." Leslie stammered uncharacteristically, "We thought we were, uh, pretty good at hearing other people moving around the woods and approaching us. And getting our swimsuits on in a hurry."

"Well, we got even better at moving around the woods undetected even in broad daylight. Major Padilla taught the ROTC Raider Platoon well, and I taught Joyce Ann well!"

"Major Padilla? He started the ROTC program our Senior year at Lark Creek High, so Jess and I didn't really know him, but didn't he run around in a cavalry hat with crossed sabers, like Theodore Roosevelt's? Nowadays, I think cavalry means tanks, and tanks mean lots of noise."

"Yes, but he was born in the Philippines," May Belle explained. "In World War II, his uncles snuck around in the jungle at night, slitting the throats of Japanese soldiers or lopping their heads off with giant meat cleavers while they slept in their own camps. He says sneaking around the woods undetected is in his blood." She grinned. "Anyway, we always gave you guys a wide berth. You're real pretty, Leslie, but seeing you naked doesn't do a thing for either us."

"And as for Jess," Joyce Ann added, "EWWW! He's our brother! We already see more of him at home than we want to!"

"And not to get all holier-than-thou," May Belle said, "but I can't believe you and Jess actually go skinnydipping in the exact same spot in the creek where you actually asked Reverend Herman to baptize you. Isn't it kinda blasphemous?"

"Well, in the first place, Miss Holier-Than-Thou, if you do a little research, you'll find that up through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, most baptisms were done with the person getting baptized being in the water nude. And in the second place, now that I know you know about it, you've got it backwards! I picked that spot to get baptized because that's where Jess and I had been skinnydipping for years!"

"Years?" It was May Belle's turn to be dumbfounded.

"Years," Leslie nodded. "Ever since the same day we told you we were going to crown you a Princess!"

"Oh!" After thinking about it, May Belle laughed. "Well, knowing Jesse, I bet he has a full portfolio of pastels, watercolors and oils on canvas of nudes of you somewhere!"

"Under lock and key in an undisclosed location," Leslie smiled and nodded. "Some I posed for, some he did from memory. Going all the way back to when we were little." She paused, then added, "Maybe someday when he's famous, I'll get up the nerve to let him display them! But don't tell my parents! Bohemians, latter-day-hippies or not, I'm not sure they're ready to handle that!"

"So you've been his soul mate, his Cuddle Buddy _and_ his free-of-charge live figure model for the last nine years!" May Belle smiled. "Leslie, you've got to level with me: did my parents ask you and Jess to make that stuff up about saving it for marriage, so you'd serve as good role models for me and Joyce Ann?"

Leslie laughed. "Now, why would your folks need us to be good role models for you two when you've got Brenda to serve as a _bad_ example?" She led them in walking on to the Castle as she spoke. "She drops out of school in eleventh grade to move in with Jimmy, then he dumps her for some younger bimbo in six months and she has to move back in with you guys and go back to school for her diploma. I mean, thank God he didn't knock her up before he dumped her! We could have all ended up with that Neanderthal's kid for a nephew or niece!" She grinned. "Hey, there's an idea for a Geico commercial! Geico makes a commercial within the commercial using Jimmy as a caveman, and the real caveman confronts Jimmy face-to-face for negative stereotyping!"

"Wow!" May Belle laughed. "I guess one year in that apartment with Jess and a TV set got you caught up after nineteen years without a TV!"

"Not really. I started catching up years ago just from hanging around your house with Jess." Leslie smiled thoughtfully. "Anyway, May Belle, even though I got baptized and all, I'm still not a Bible-thumper. Why Jess and I have waited... religion isn't the only reason. And sexual attraction is only part of our relationship. Jess and I both realize that what we have is something very few people are ever lucky enough to have. We looked at Brenda and Jimmy, and at all these other people we've known over the years at Lark Creek High and at Eastwood. They're doing it like bunnies thinking they're going to find what Jess and I have always had since we first met, and most of them never will."

"You're so right!" May Belle nodded. "Leslie, I'm sorry I even asked! I know you and my brother better than that." She glanced around at the items the three of them were carrying. "It's obvious. If you weren't a virgin saving it for your wedding night, you wouldn't be going through all this trouble setting up the Castle."

"Thank you!" Leslie smiled back. "That having been said, we didn't want to wait until graduation to get married like most college kids do."

"Well, why should you? You're both on scholarships, and your parents are gonna help you get started in the business. You have no financial worries."

"Actually, May Belle, the plan is that after Jess and I compile and edit our stories and illustrations, we're going to submit them to the publishers under the names of Jesse and Leslie Aarons." She smiled at the thought of the name. "We'll use my parents' agent, but with absolutely no mention of my being William Burke and Judith Hancock-Burke's daughter. I need to do that for my own peace of mind. And since my parents took a long time to get established as writers, Jess and I will probably get jobs teaching after we graduate."

"Sounds like a plan," May Belle nodded.

They reached the Castle and set their loads down at the roots of the tree, then rested. Joyce Ann looked up at the first tier of the Castle. "Leslie, are you sure that mattress is gonna fit up there, or did you just buy a Queen-sized because you're the Queen?"

"I measured it. I wouldn't have asked you guys to lug all this stuff out here if I hadn't first. Actually, I would've gotten a King-sized if I could've squeezed it in there. I had to move the trunk out onto the porch and most of the boxes to the upper level, but a Queen size will barely fit."

Leslie worked her way up the rungs on the tree to the first tier and stood on the porch next to the trunk and a large wooden crate. It hadn't been long after the rope swing broke, and she and Jesse had placed the planks and rails on the fallen tree bridge, that Jesse had scrounged up the crate, an old boat winch and cable, and some pulleys. He had rigged up a kind of freight elevator or dumbwaiter to the porch, determined to make it safer to climb the rungs by freeing both hands for the climber. She lifted the crate over the rail and let it hang by the cable from a pulley on a thick branch, then lowered it to ground level by unwinding the winch which was bolted to the wall of the Castle. "Coming down!" she announced.

May Belle and Joyce Ann began placing their cargo into the crate. "I think we can get it all in one shot!" May Belle said. "Unless you want us to send PT up too."

"Nahh, let him stay down there. I'm just going to put the stuff inside and come back down. Can't really do much up here until I inflate the mattress, and we can't run the air pump until we run the extension cords out here." Leslie waited for the two sisters to finish loading the crate and then started winding the winch; it wound and the crate rose with ease; the items the three of them had carried were bulky but light, and even the air pump was pretty small. She swung the crate back onto the porch, then moved the contents inside the door.

As Leslie worked her way back down the rungs, she heard one of the sisters-- she suspected it was May Belle but she couldn't see-- start some muffled giggling. As she set foot an the ground and turned to face them, she saw she was right.

"_Now_ what's so funny?" she squinted at May Belle.

"I was just remembering your first year here in Lark Creek when I was in Second Grade and you and Jess were in Fifth," May Belle said between giggles. "The time on the bus that I started singing 'Jess and Leslie sitting in a tree...' and you darn near smothered me to death with your hand!"

"You're lucky I was closer and beat _him_ to it!" Leslie smiled wryly. "He's got bigger hands. He _would've_ smothered you to death!"

"Now, that's the irony of it!" May Belle giggled again. "Because it's gonna happen! Day after tomorrow! And I don't just mean the love and marriage part." She looked up at the Castle with a broad grin. "I mean the sitting in the tree part! It wasn't that you fell in love with Jess before he fell in love with you, I knew back then that the two of you were in love with each other, before either of you realized it! Am I prophetic or what?"

"Prophetic?" Joyce Ann laughed. "More like you're the stopped clock and this was one of the two times a day you were right!"

"Like _you_ would know!" May Belle was close to sneering at her younger sister. "You were still in diapers and being bottle fed at the time!"

"May Belle may be right, Joyce Ann," Leslie smiled.

"Of course I'm right!" May Belle smirked. "Jess was always in love with you. He just needed to get his little crush on Miss Edmonds out of his system to realize it. Which that whole business with the rope breaking-- and I agree with you and Jess that it wasn't just a weird dream-- took care of." Her smirk faded and she looked at her soon to be sister-in-law with genuine affection. "Hey, Leslie, I never said it over all these years because I thought it went without saying, but I should have: I'm glad it was Jesse's butt and not your head that got banged up that day!"

"Thank you, May Belle," Leslie smiled back and gave her a quick hug. "I am, too!"

"I mean, I don't exactly know what Jess went through with that... phenomenon, I guess we can call it, but I'm glad you've been a part of all our lives. I don't know what our lives would have been like if we'd lost you. Not just Jess, but all of us."

"Hey," Joyce Ann interjected, "what are you two talking about? Does this have anything to do with that old fairy tale that Jess used to tell me when I was little, about the king who lost his queen and then got her back through magic?"

Leslie and May Belle glanced at each other with a short burst of laughter. "Yeah, Joyce Ann," Leslie nodded. "Both of us tried to tell Jess you weren't old enough at the time to get the connection."

"I was wondering about it," Joyce Ann nodded. "I thought it had something to do with that old ratty piece of rope on that branch near the bridge, but I can't remember the fairy tale anymore."

"You're right," Leslie replied. "It does have something to do with that old ratty piece of rope. Good Lord, Joyce Ann! Where'd all the time go? You're as old now as Jess and I were when it happened! You're too old now for the 'Once upon a time' version!" She sniffled with misty eyes as she placed her arm across Joyce Ann's shoulders, and the three girls and one dog started back toward the creek. "So let me tell you the story of the first bridge to Terabithia, and the day your brother saved my life. And, from his point of view, I guess you could say the day I was resurrected from the dead..."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**I've inserted myself as a spoken of but unseen Mary Sue, without even changing my real name. Guess which character!**

**I should also mention here that one of the biggest reasons I was so drawn to _Bridge to Terabithia_ in the first place is that two of the main characters from one of my unpublished novels (the first draft of which I wrote in 1974, three years before BtT was published) were a young married couple whose backstory was quite similar to Jess and Leslie's, including that they grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC. Some of what I have happening to Jess and Leslie since _Groundhogs_ is adapted from the unwritten backstory of my own characters, although I think most of you will see the stories as being consistent with Jess and Leslie's characters.**

**Re: Miss Edmonds' married name, I just couldn't write this without another reference to that other "Bridge" book/movie with a tragic ending! ;-)**

**Okay, in _Groundhogs_, I make historic references to events making that story clearly post-9-11/Iraq War, so as this is a direct sequel, this takes place nine years after that, sometime in the future. Is anyone even going to remember the Geico Caveman by 2012 at the earliest? Who knows?**

**I posted the first chapter of _Groundhogs_ after most of the story was written, so the chapters came up in pretty rapid order. This is not the case with this story and future chapters will be posted on an irregular schedule. If you're really starving for my BtT fanfiction writings, please visit the _Kingdom of Terabithia_ Role Play site where I play Leslie's dad, Narnian Melody plays Leslie, LuvtoWrite plays Jess, mparr plays May Belle, Hunter Jade Slater plays Joyce Ann and Harpiebird plays Miss Edmunds, among a number of authors who post here on fanfiction dot net. Since fanfic dot net automatically deletes URLs posted within stories, the quickest way to get to it is to go to Google and enter _"kingdom of terabithia"_ (including quotes) and _roleplay_ (one word); it should be one of the first hits.**

**Comments are, as always, invited and encouraged.**


	2. Chapter 2

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Chapter 2

He was certainly not the first young man ever to be marrying the literal "girl next door"; over the years, he and Leslie had often compared themselves to George Gibbs and Emily Webb from Thornton Wilder's play _Our Town_, especially the movie version with William Holden and Martha Scott in which Emily didn't die and her "death" in Act 3 turned out to be a strange dream she'd had after giving birth. Leslie's old copy of the play was back at the apartment near the Eastwood University campus, and Jess hadn't read it in years. He vaguely remembered George sneaking over the morning of the wedding and having a talk with Emily's dad in Act 2 and managing to avoid seeing Emily while doing so. But somehow he didn't think that the Gibbses and Webbs had the same logistical problems the Aarons and Burke families were having, compounded by the fact that the two youngest Aarons girls were part of the bridal party.

With May Belle and Joyce Ann living in Brenda's and Ellie's old rooms just across the hall from the old room they'd shared with him-- especially since he had been banished back there from the guestroom at the Burkes' as the wedding day approached-- everyone had long ago abandoned the idea of keeping him from seeing what the bridesmaids' gowns looked like. He already knew they were ankle-length and strapless with fine lace over the shoulders in Leslie's favorite color of light blue. Focus was now on keeping him from seeing Leslie's gown or even hearing any of the details about it. And as the day itself dawned, great pains were being taken by all involved to prevent the bride and groom from seeing each other before the start of the ceremony. May Belle and Joyce Ann had left for the Burkes' right after breakfast to help the bride. When the three limousines arrived, Jesse's mother made a point of calling Judy Burke to let her know she, her husband and Jesse were leaving for the church so that Leslie could be kept away from the windows until they pulled out.

Jesse sat in the rearmost seat, facing his parents, as the limo turned down the country road toward the church. Nancy Aarons stroked the face of her only son, tears in her eyes. "My Jesse!" she smiled, then turned to her husband. "Jack, wasn't it just yesterday that our little boy first brought home that skinny little blonde-haired girl with the ketchup on her face and all over her jacket?"

"Sure seems that way!" his father laughed.

"Hey!" his mother smiled. "Wasn't it Janice who shot the ketchup packets at her?"

"That's right, Momma!" Jesse chuckled. "Janice claimed I tripped her on the bus and got me thrown off, and then shot ketchup all over Leslie in my absence! Funny how things turn out!"

"I imagine if Leslie hadn't helped Janice out the day the cops arrested her father," Nancy smiled, "Janice might've ended up an alcoholic or drug addict, or would've gotten pregnant at fifteen by some abusive boy or somesuch!"

"Or all of the above," Jack laughed. "Jess, Leslie is an absolute angel. You'd better take good care of her and hang on to her!"

"I will, Dad!" Jesse smiled. That was the last thing he ever needed to be told. In all the years since his supernatural experience of living through Leslie's death and then going backward in time to prevent it, he'd never told his parents a word of it; he and Leslie told her parents and also May Belle on the very evening of the day it happened, and then years later told Joyce Ann although both Leslie and May Belle had cautioned him that she was too young to get it, but he never said a word to his parents or his older sisters. And today wasn't the day to do it.

"Not only has Leslie made you a better man," his father continued, "but she's brought something special to our whole family. Your momma and I love her as if she were our own. You know that!"

"You don't have to tell me that, Dad! Just be sure and tell Leslie that sometime!"

"Joyce Ann's taking care of that!" his mother winked.

They arrived at the church and entered through the side door, and inside found the Best Man and the three ushers waiting inside, all dressed in the same blue-trimmed charcoal gray tuxedos as Jesse and his father. The choice of Best Man had not been easy for Jesse. Apart from the fact that his very best friend in the world was the bride herself-- every bridegroom should have that problem, he'd mused-- he was still very much a loner. Those male classmates at Lark Creek High, even his Track and Field teammates whom he'd considered friends, he had not kept in close touch with after graduation. Although he and Leslie invited the entire Eastwood Track and Field team and both the male and female coaching staffs to the wedding, he still didn't feel close enough to his Eastwood teammates, or comfortable enough to favor one over the other, to bestow that honor on any one of them; he'd compromised by selecting Greg, Keith and Randy, his 4x800 Meter Relay teammates, as his ushers. In the end, it turned out that the man who had been his first choice all along but whom he'd thought would be reluctant to accept, was happy and honored to do it.

"Hi, Brad!" he shook his Best Man's hand, then turned to the man's wife and daughter who had been waiting in a pew with him. "Hi, Candy! Hi, Cory!"

Candice Edmunds Brubaker stood and gave her long-time-ago former student a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She and her six year old daughter Corinna were dressed in the same pale blue lace-trimmed gowns as he knew the rest of the bridal party would be. "Look at you!" she smiled mistily, then smoothed out the faint creases she'd created on his tux jacket.

She had aged well, so that when she and Brad were together with Jesse and Leslie these days, nobody would have guessed that the younger couple had been her students in grade school. Jesse and Leslie had been the only students actually invited to their wedding reception when Bradford Brubaker had left the active Navy and found a job with one of the military electronic components manufacturers in the DC suburbs, the summer after the younger couple had finished Seventh Grade. The Brubakers had insisted on being called "Candy and Brad" as soon as Jesse and Leslie graduated from elementary to high school, and to Jess it came easier than calling his future in-laws "Bill and Judy". Since then, the Brubakers-- who, too, had been childhood sweethearts and soul mates-- had served as role models, mentors, and a yardstick for Jesse and Leslie's own relationship. After Brad had agreed to serve as Best Man, Leslie felt obliged to likewise ask Candy to be Matron of Honor, but Candy insisted that May Belle-- Leslie's actual first choice-- be Maiden of Honor, and on taking what she herself considered an equally important and more appropriate role, a choice that both the bride and groom were actually relieved she had insisted on and wholeheartedly supported. The guitar case sitting on the pew next to her indicated that she was ready for that role.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**Re: Miss Edmunds' first name, I'd forgotten that her first name in the book was Julia, and didn't feel like thumbing through the whole book to find her first name when I wrote _Groundhogs at Terabithia_. After I stumbled across it, I noticed that there were a disproportionate number of major characters whose first names began with J: Jesse; Jesse Sr. (Jack in the movie!); Joyce Ann; Judy; Janice; Jimmy (older sister Brenda's boyfriend). I figured since this story canonically favors the movie over the book and Miss Edmunds' first name is never mentioned in the movie, it wouldn't hurt to keep it as Candice per _Groundhogs_. In the _original_ movie credits (the theatrical release) they did spell her surname as Edmonds, and then corrected it to Edmunds on the DVD to match the spelling in the book. I'm following that correction as it's a matter of only one vowel. ;-)**

**Re: Mrs. Aarons' first name: in the the theatrical release of the movie it's listed as Nancy, but in faint background conversation a couple of times, Jack does call or refer to her as Mary, and it was then corrected to Mary in the credits on the DVD release. I referred to her as Nancy in _Groundhogs_ and am sticking with it for simplicity and continuity.**

**Comments are, as always, invited and encouraged. Again, no promises as to how soon the next chapter will be up.**


	3. Chapter 3

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Chapter 3

"All clear!" Joyce Ann called out as she stepped inside from the front porch of the Burke home, after the limo carrying her brother and parents turned the corner onto the main road and out of sight. Leslie stepped out of her bedroom and into the living room, escorted by May Belle and the third bridesmaid who was present.

Janice Avery was still a little above average in weight but had trimmed down considerably since her school days. As she and the two Aarons sisters resumed putting the finishing touches on Leslie's bridal gown-- without the tiara/veil and other accessories it was essentially an all-white version of their own light blue strapless, lace-shouldered gowns-- Janice giggled, then giddily and impulsively grabbed Leslie's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, being very careful not to crease their gowns. "Holy crap! It's really happening! I'm actually a bridesmaid to the two people who forged the infamous Willard Hughes love note!"

"And you know that Jess and I will never either confirm or deny that allegation!" Leslie laughed back and winked. "Not even after nine years!"

"Come on! Who else at Lark Creek Elementary at the time had the brains to pull that one off?"

"Thank you. But we still neither confirm nor deny!"

"What? You're afraid I'm going to suddenly want payback and sabotage your wedding? Leslie, _that_ Janice ceased to exist nine years ago when you handed me that stick of Juicy Fruit in the Girls Room! I didn't even figure it out until _after_ we became friends, and we're still friends."

"Hey, Jan, did you ever consider the possibility that Willard really did write the note, and then got cold feet when you came face to face with him?" Leslie giggled.

"You mean Willard 'I'm God's gift to the entire female half of Lark Creek' Hughes? Who are you trying to kid?"

"Nobody," Leslie shrugged. "Just asking if you ever considered it."

"Whatever happened to Willard Hughes, anyway?" May Belle asked.

"He married Carla Dean-- my backstabbing blabbermouth former BFF-- right after graduation from high school." Janice laughed. "I wasn't invited, but rumor has it that at their wedding, the processional was 'Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way!' by Mac Davis! Now they've got two kids, he's flipping burgers at a Hardee's and she's working in the stockroom at the Wal-Mart in North Anna, the last I heard. They deserve each other." Janice smiled. "There but for the grace of God and the very soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Aarons goeth I!"

"You're too kind, Jan!" Leslie smiled back.

"No, I mean it!" Janice started to mist up. "The three best pieces of advice I ever got in my life, I got from you two. First from you: 'Just pretend you don't know what anyone's talking about!' Then from Jess: 'My dad thinks you'll do great in the Marines.' And then from both of you: 'Now that you've got the GI Bill, why don't you come join us at Eastwood when your enlistment's up?'"

"And we're glad you did! It's great having you up there with us!"

"You know, when I graduated from High School and enlisted, a big part of me wanted to never come back to Lark Creek. You and Jess gave me a reason to."

"It means a lot, especially considering how we started out!" Leslie laughed as she hugged her.

"Outside of the Corps, you two are the only real family I have!" Janice sniffled. "Hey, don't wrinkle your dress!"

"Don't worry!" Leslie reassured her. "I figured there was going to be a lot of hugging all around today, I picked the most wrinkle-resistant types of satins and silks available for all our gowns!"

Almost on cue, there was a light rapping on the front screen door, and then a gray-haired but sturdy-framed woman in an elegant pale peach formal summer gown entered.

"Hi, Grandma!" May Belle called out. "The limo's waiting and Leslie's grandma should be ready in a few minutes."

Grandma Eleanor, Nancy Aarons' mother from Georgia who had been rooming with Joyce Ann, smiled and said, "Oh, the heck with the limo! It can wait a little longer. Let's have a look at my soon to be granddaughter-in-law!" She stepped over and crushed Leslie in a tight hug as Leslie shot a _See what I mean!_ smile at Janice. Grandma Eleanor backed up and looked her up and down.

"It's not finished yet," Leslie said as she smoothed out the gown, which did so easily. "Still have to put on the veil, and Mom and Dad have the bouquet and the tiara."

"And the shoes," Grandma Eleanor said as her eyes reached the bottom and noticed that Leslie was wearing only white athletic socks on her feet. "I trust those socks are only temporary."

"There's a method to my madness, Grandma Eleanor," Leslie smiled mysteriously.

"There's _always_ a method to our Leslie's madness!" another woman's voice boomed out from the hallway to the bedrooms. "Haven't you learned that by now, Eleanor?" That was Grandma Burke, stepping out from the guest bedroom in a pale lavender gown. The two of them had first met two years earlier at Jess and Leslie's combined high school graduation and engagement party and, each being the sole surviving grandparent of one of the couple, immediately hit it off.

"Of course!" Grandma Eleanor laughed. "She's marrying my grandson, isn't she?"

"Let's have a look at you," Grandma Burke smiled at Leslie.

"It's not finished, Grandma," Leslie told her. "Nobody except the bridesmaids and Mom and Dad gets to see the whole ensemble before we get to the church!"

"Oh, all right!" Grandma Burke sighed as she hugged her.

"Anyway, Ruthie," Grandma Eleanor said, "the limo's waiting!"

"Sorry it's not a stretch limo, since it's just the two of you," Leslie smiled at them, "but I want both of you to know it's still a very special limo. We checked with the limo company and found out it was still in service and made sure they used it. It's the limo in which Jess actually got on one knee and gave me the ring, the night of our Senior Prom."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Grandma Burke smiled. "And I'm honored!"

"My flighty, head-in-the-clouds grandson actually did something that romantic!" Grandma Eleanor laughed. "My dear, you've got him well-trained!"

"I'm surprised for a different reason," Grandma Burke smiled. "You two have only been officially engaged for just over two years? I thought you got engaged when you were eleven!"

"Actually, Grandma," Leslie giggled back, "since Jess and I have been the king and queen of our own little kingdom, technically we've been _married_ since we were eleven! Unfortunately, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the other forty-nine states and the District of Columbia do not recognize our kingdom with regard to marriage reciprocity laws."

"Well, thank goodness for that!" Grandma Burke laughed back. "Otherwise we'd have no reason to do what we're doing today, would we?" She hugged Leslie again, then sniffled. "I just keep remembering how you never talked to me about your classmates or school before you moved here to Lark Creek, and then suddenly all you could talk about was the boy next door and all the things you did together! And now here we are nine years later and you're even more excited about him than you were back then!"

"Well, Jess and I have discovered a lot of things together over the years," Leslie smiled. It was a spontaneous and heartfelt comment, with no intention of suggestivenes or double entendre, but she then slipped into an awkward silence. Even though neither Grandma Burke nor Grandma Eleanor knew that she and Jess were actually living in the same one-bedroom apartment, and they had still managed to save themselves for marriage, this was no time to open up that can of worms.

"Is the bride ready for her veil?" her father announced, somewhat to her relief, as he and her mother entered. Bill Burke was dressed in a tuxedo while Judy wore a gown that, while a distinctly different design from those of the bridesmaids, was of the same pale blue materials.

"Ruthie," Grandma Eleanor smiled to Grandma Burke, "I believe that's our cue to get in the limo!"

"Mom, Eleanor," Bill Burke nodded, "we'll see you at the church."

The two older women each gave the bride another quick hug and exited quietly. The three bridesmaids present turned to the Burkes in anticipation, their eyes on the old but elegantly decorated clothing box in Judy's hands and the new velvet-covered round jewelry box in Bill's.

"So these two items will fulfill all four requirements?" Janice asked.

"That's right, Janice," Judy smiled as she set her box down on the couch, opened it and pulled out a white lace bridal veil. "Leslie's borrowing this from me, and it's old. The day I wore this twenty-six years ago, I dreamed that I'd someday give birth to a little girl and that someday she'd wear it..." She suddenly lost it and burst into tears. "I'm sorry!" she sobbed as Leslie threw her arms around her.

"Don't be sorry, Mommy!" Leslie cried herself. "You're _supposed_ to cry on my wedding day, as long as they're happy tears."

"They are, Sweetheart!"

They clung together until Judy composed herself, but both of them continued to sniffle as Judy then unfolded the veil and draped it over her daughter's head and shoulders. Leslie then looked at herself in the mirror on the wall. They had previously taken the veil with them to the dressmaker so that, colorwise, it was a perfect match to the gown.

"And this," Bill beamed as he opened the jewelry box, "is both new and has sufficient blue in it to fill the other two requirements."

As Leslie looked at what was contained within and slowly lifted it out, the three bridesmaids gathered behind her, gasping in awe. It was a small but elegantly intricate tiara, with a cloisonne blue-background coat-of-arms in the center, the engraved motto reading _Et Nihil Contundio Nos!_ Even though Leslie knew it was only silver-plated rather than solid silver, the one-of-a-kind design, the cloisonne, and the small alternating stones of irradiated blue and natural yellow topaz-- her own November birthstone-- that decorated each point, had to have placed the price easily at four figures. She looked mistily at the tiara and then returned to the mirror as she carefully placed it to hold her veil in place.

"It's perfect!" she whispered tearfully as she pulled both her parents into a hug. "Thank you! And you know you guys didn't have to do this, right?"

"Don't be silly!" Bill smiled, his eyes watery as well. "You're our only daughter, our only child, and you're only getting married just this once, right?"

"If my ditzy brother knows what's good for him!" May Belle interjected with a laugh.

"Hey, lay off your brother, May Belle!" Bill scolded her gently. "If it weren't for Jess, Judy and I wouldn't even _have_ a daughter to give away today!" He kissed Leslie on the forehead to emphasize the point.

"I know, Mr. Burke!" May Belle replied quickly. Leslie had turned and was giving her that glowering look that indicated she was again contemplating whether it was too late, minutes before leaving for the church, to switch her Maiden of Honor, and whether it would be more humiliating for May Belle to be replaced by her eleven year old little sister or by the reformed Twinkie thief...

"Hey, May Belle," Judy said to help smooth things quickly, "why don't you get the bouquet from the fridge. I think we're ready."

"And the shoes, Joyce Ann," Leslie added. "I'm ready for the shoes."

"Ohhh-kay!" Joyce Ann smiled as she followed her sister out of the room.

Bill held his daughter by the waist at arm's length and looked her over. "You're even more beautiful than Mom and I dreamed you'd be on this day," he said to her. Then he let out a short snorting laugh. "Except..."

"Except what, Daddy?"

"Well, Leslie, honey, I know you and Jess have had your own magical kingdom out in the woods since you've known each other, with its own history and mythology, and its own heraldry..."

"But...?" Leslie prodded.

He laughed softly. "But you've gotta admit, even translated into Latin, 'And Nothing Crushes Us!' is still an odd motto to be engraved on a bridal tiara!"

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**While Leslie's birth month is never mentioned in the movie, it's specified as November in the book.**

**In the movie, Janice's sidekick is named Carla with no last name mentioned. In the book, her name is Wilma Dean. I decided to merge the two names.**

**Comments are, as always, invited and encouraged. Again, no promises as to how soon the next chapter will be up.**


	4. Chapter 4

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Chapter 4

The small church began filling up with arriving guests, with Greg, Keith and Randy, Jess's relay teammates, busying themselves with their ushering duties. Candy had uncased and tuned up her guitar and seated herself and Corinna next to the organ, and she and old Mr. Hinkle, the long-time church organist, alternated between her repertoire of '60s and later folk/soft rock guitar solos from her classes at Lark Creek Elementary, and traditional classical organ pieces.

Jess, standing off to the side of the altar with his father and Brad, watched as small knots of familiar faces were escorted to their seats, pointing out to the other two men those people whom one or the other or both might not know.

"You remember May Belle's boyfriend Walt from the rehearsal dinner," Jess said softly to Brad, nodding toward an athletic blond-haired boy in his mid to late teens in a blazer and tie following Greg down the aisle, along with another boy with darker hair, also in a blazer and tie, and a slender red-haired girl about the same age in a bright floral-print dress. "The red-headed girl is Alex, May Belle's best friend since Kindergarten, and the other guy is her boyfriend, whatsisname... Lucas."

"So that's Alex!" Brad laughed. "All those years before they moved on to high school, Candy kept complaining how she could never get May Belle and Alexandra to shut up in her classes, but I never knew what Alexandra looked like!"

The three teenagers took a pew close to the front on the Groom's side.

"Great!" Brad said brightly, "Starsky's here!"

Jess squinted at him. "Starsky? Who's Starsky?"

"Gussie Myers," Brad grinned, as Jess saw that old Mrs. Myers was indeed being escorted down the aisle in a rather conservatively toned formal dress. "I know the kids all call her 'Monster Mouth', but Candy calls her 'Starsky' and she calls Candy 'Hutch', as in Good Cop-Bad Cop. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one is which!"

As she came down the aisle on Keith's arm, Mrs. Myers smiled and waved to her fellow teachers and former students in the church, and then made eye contact with Jess and gave him a beaming smile. She hadn't aged much in the nearly ten years since Jess and Leslie had started their year in her class. They knew she was eligible for retirement and probably already had been back when they were in her class. One of those teachers who'd been around forever. Then Jess raised his eyebrows as Keith seated her in a pew on the right side of the aisle.

"Brad!" he whispered. "She's sitting on the Groom's side!"

"Well, both you _and_ Leslie were her students, so I guess it's her choice, right?"

"But Leslie was her pet when we were in her class!"

"There are a couple of ways to look at this, Jess," Brad said. "One, you can consider the fact that Leslie's an only child, while Gussie has taught you and all four of your sisters over a period of what? Fifteen years? Maybe Gussie Myers feels a stronger bond toward your family as a whole than to Leslie and her parents."

"Yeah, I guess," Jess shrugged "Except the very first thing she said to me the year Leslie and I had her was, 'Jesse Aarons! I got it from your sisters, and I'm not taking it from you!'" He paused. "So what's the other way to look at it?"

"Keeping in mind what I just said about the whole Starsky and Hutch, Good Cop/Bad Cop thing, some teachers feel a lot of affection for their students that they never allow themselves to show."

Jess thought briefly about that nightmare alternate reality and to the one moment of tenderness that Old Monster Mouth had shown him, when she compared his grief over Leslie to her own grief for her late husband. It did give credence to Brad's theory, but Jess reminded himself that the fact that it happened only in that alternate reality-- like the one sign of affection his father had given him-- was a small price to pay for Leslie's life, the nine years of love and companionship they'd shared since, and their imminent union for life. _Today is not the day to dwell on that!_ he told himself.

"Jack," Brad said to Jess's father, which helped the younger Aarons to refocus on the here and now, "since he looks too young to have been one of _your_ buddies, I presume this Jarhead is Janice's boyfriend!"

Jess turned to see a young Marine Corps buck sergeant in a dress blue uniform being escorted down the aise and to a seat on the bride's side. His dark hair was in a close high-and-tight cut and, like Janice, he was heavier than average but by no means out of shape. "Yeah, that's Rick," Jess said to Brad. "He just came up from Camp Lejeune last night, couldn't make the rehearsal dinner."

"So how many of _your_ buddies at Annapolis chose to become Jarheads?" Jack needled Brad back.

"More than I like to admit!" Brad sighed, then turned back to Jess. "So he's transferring to the Reserves like Janice and joining the three of you at Eastwood."

"Yeah," Jess nodded. "His enlistment in the Regulars isn't up until December, though, so he won't start until the Spring semester."

They looked up the aisle to the next party being escorted: a middle-aged couple and a boy and two girls all in their teens. "So this is this your aunt and uncle from Georgia coming down next, right?" Brad asked. "I remember them from the rehearsal dinner."

"Aunt Barbara and Uncle Hank and my cousins," Jess said. "Mom's sister and brother-in-law and their kids. They drove up with my Grandma." As the party was seated close to the front, Jess reflected on the fact that his eighteen year old cousin Hal was his next closest male relative after his father, and might have been on the short list for Best Man or as an usher except that they only saw each other every two or three years if that, and they were never close, emotionally or geographically. And that geographic distance precluded any participation in the wedding party.

"And I don't think I've met this couple coming down next," Brad said.

Jess looked. "That's Leslie's Uncle Mark and Aunt Kelly, Judy's brother and sister-in-law. They drove down from Pennsylvania last night." It always initially brought an eerie feeling to Jess, usually accompanied by a pang, to see any of Leslie's extended family. They were all very nice, gregarious people like both Bill and Judy, and had all enthusiastically accepted him as Leslie's beau from the beginning, and he felt that same affection toward all. But even after nine years, he could never shake the weird feeling from having "met" most of them at Leslie's wake in that other reality before meeting any of them in this one, a feeling that only Leslie and her parents knew about.

The church continued to fill: a few more of Leslie's aunts, uncles and cousins; a few more old classmates and teachers from the Lark Creek schools with whom he and/or Leslie had remained close enough to invite; current classmates, profs and track teammates from Eastwood; his aunt and uncle from his father's side of the family.

His two older sisters arrived together. Oldest sister Ellie came down the aisle with her husband Cliff on one arm and usher Randy on the other, with Cliff holding the hand of their daughter Terri, who at three was just a hair too young to have shared Flower Girl duties with Corinna. Brenda came down escorted by usher Greg, and accompanied by her boyfriend Vince. Nancy squeezed back in her seat so she maintained her spot as Mother of the Groom at the end of the front pew, as the others moved past her to fill the pew, nodding and smiling toward Jess.

Brad had met them all at the rehearsal dinner so no introduction was needed, but as Brenda sat next to her, Nancy gave Jess a thin smile. It was enough to let Jess know his mother was probably thinking the same thing he was, about the conversation the two of them had a couple of weeks earlier, shortly after he and Leslie came home at the end of the school year and in the midst of all the planning and preparation:

_"Jess, I'm not going to sit here and insult your intelligence by pretending that your dad doesn't play favorites, pretending that May Belle and Joyce Ann aren't Daddy's Little Girls. The truth is, the way he treated you growing up, I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd never come back home after you turned eighteen and gotten your Track scholarship."_

_"Things are better now, Momma. They got a lot better after he got promoted when old Mr. Palmer retired. I know a lot of it was financial worries." Jess laughed, "Besides, it would've been awfully crass of me to come home with my fiancee to her parents and then pretend you and Dad didn't live right next door!" He paused. "Plus, I learned a long time ago that bad treatment is a relative term. At least he didn't beat me up and get thrown in jail for it like Janice's dad!"_

_"I guess that's what they call damning with faint praise!" his mother nodded._

_"It's more than that, Momma. I've accepted that he's not good at showing it, and that he does love May Belle and Joyce Ann more. But I know that in his own way, Dad loves me."_

_"Well, it's not easy for me to say this, Jesse, but that makes you a better man than he is for knowing that!" Nancy blinked. "Lord knows he hasn't given you much reason to know that."_

_"Well, I do know," Jess smiled. "Shortly after Jan's dad got arrested, something else happened that made me know it."_

_"Well, I can't imagine what that might be. I know something happened that Spring that brought you and Leslie even closer together than you already were, but I can't imagine what your father had to do with it."_

_"Just take my word, Momma."_

_"I do, Sweetheart. Anyway, I can't change what happened in the past. I can't even change the way your father is now. And I may be no better than your dad in fairness and equality, but I hope you know that I love you and each of your sisters in a different way for each because you're each so unique and individual. And that I've tried to love you all equally."_

_"Of course I know, Momma. Why are you bringing this up now?"_

_"I was just thinking how you and Leslie are getting married after you've been a couple practically since you met nearly ten years ago. And how Ellie and Cliff have been married five years now, and have Terri. And even May Belle and Walt have been going steady for a year and a half now. But then there's Brenda."_

_"What about Brenda?"_

_"I mean, she's bringing Vince as her guest to the wedding. They've only been seeing each other for four months, but on the other hand, that's longer than she's dated any other boy since Jimmy cheated on her and dumped her. Who knows if they'll still be seeing each other a month from now?"_

_"Well, Brenda's more or less... how can I put this?..."_

_"Brought it on herself? Made her own bed that she has to lie in?" Nancy smiled sadly. "I never was much impressed with Jimmy Dicks. The truth is I was actually relieved when Jimmy left Brenda. But Lord knows I didn't gloat. I felt her pain. I still do. I don't know Vince well enough to make a prediction over whether this relationship will last. But yes, much of what Brenda has experienced was her own doing. I remember how she used to tease you and Leslie..." She continued to smile, but with a little apprehension. "You didn't happen to hear what she called you two the first time you brought Leslie home, did you?"_

_"You mean 'Weird and Weirder'?" Jess laughed._

_"You did," his mother sighed and nodded._

_"We considered the source."_

_"As well you should have," she smiled. "As I said, I love you and your sisters all equally, but the way it worked out, the way you and Leslie have managed to hold on to each other and deepen your love over nearly ten years, while Brenda's relationships have all been so superficial and shallow... I guess there's some justice there..."_

_"Poetic justice," Jess nodded._

_"And also the kind of justice you read about in the Bible," his mother nodded. "The meek shall inherit the Earth..."_

The limousine carrying the two grandmothers arrived, and now Randy was escoring Grandma Eleanor down the aisle. Brad took one look at her peach-colored gown and laughed. "Boy, you weren't kidding about your grandmother being a hardcore Georgian, were you?"

"You kidding?" Jack interjected with a smile. "Nancy and I actually had to talk her out of wearing a Scarlett O'Hara-type hoop skirt!" Jess smiled along; he hadn't been witness to that, but his father was definitely not one to make up stories like that one. Jack took one more look at the color of his mother-in-law's gown and added to Jess: "Oh, and don't tell your grandmother, but Georgia ranks third in the country behind California and New Jersey in peach production!"

The three men managed to wipe the smiles off their faces by the time Grandma Eleanor took her seat in the second pew behind Nancy and next to her other daughter, Aunt Barbara.

Grandma Burke followed down the aisle on Greg's arm. She made a long moment of eye contact with Jess, beaming all the way until she took a seat in the front pew on the Bride's side, in front of her relatives and Judy's. Of all of Leslie's relatives besides Bill and Judy, Grandma Burke was the one with whom Jess felt the strongest bond. Part of it was that she was the one relative Leslie took after the most, not just in looks but in a free-spirited, thinking-outside-the-box creative personality. In addition, the pangs he felt at remembering "meeting" her in the alternate reality were offset by the fact that it was his drawing of her wearing a distinct black dress with multicolored pinstripes on the collar-- which Leslie could never have seen or have described to him because she only wore it at funerals-- that convinced the Burkes that his phenomenon that had saved Leslie's life was more than just a coincidental dream. Her lavender gown was more in keeping with her normal dressing habits, although still toned down for the formality of this occasion; her complete wardrobe was, in its own way, as flamboyant and eccentric as her granddaughter's.

After a few more guests were seated, a murmur rippled through the congregation forward from the main entrance, and then Reverend Herman, the fortysomething blond-haired pastor who bore something of a resemblance to former Vice President Dan Quayle, came down to the front accompanied by Joyce Ann. The Bridal Party had arrived.

"Everyone ready?" the pastor smiled, giving his vestments a final adjustment and turning on the cordless microphone on his lapel.

Jess, Jack, Brad and Candy all nodded. Joyce Ann took Corinna by the hand and guided her back up to the main entrance, with both girls smiling excitedly. As Candy moved over to the altar with her guitar and the other two ushers took their positions at the front, Randy escorted Judy down the aisle to where she took her place of prominence at the front pew.

Reverend Herman took his place front and center with Jess next to him, looked down to the far end of the aisle, then at the congregation. "Good morning!" he smiled. "Will everyone please rise?"

The congregation did so and turned to face the rear of the church, and then as Candy began her guitar opening to the processional, her daughter started down the aisle with a white basket, scattering flower petals. Candy began to sing:

_He is now to be among you_

_At the calling of your hearts..._

May Belle came next, and then Jess saw Leslie on the arm of her father, looking even more breathtaking than he'd anticipated in her gown and ensemble.

_Rest assured this troubador_

_Is acting on His part..._

Janice came next with Joyce Ann bringing up the rear.

_The union of your spirits, here,_

_Has caused Him to remain_

_For whenever two or more of you_

_Are gathered in His name_

_There is Love. There is Love..._

As Leslie stepped forward, a ripple of light giggling among the guests accompanied her. Jesse wondered what it was about, then noticed most of the guests were looking down at her feet, and he looked at well; he'd assumed that she would be wearing a white version of the pale blue lattice-strap wedge-soled sandals that the bridesmaids were wearing. He'd assumed wrong, and suppressed his own disbelieving giggle. _Leslie, you didn't!_

She did. Her shoes were all white, but they were an all-white version her trademark extra-high Converse high-tops. The ones that had become known to athletes and followers of girls/women's Track and Field over recent years, first throughout eastern Virginia during their Lark Creek High days and now throughout NCAA Division II, as Leslie Burke Specials: the scourge of all other female 1500 meter and Mile runners. _That's my Leslie!_

Being in such a small church, the procession wasn't very long, and as Jess and Leslie came together smiling brightly at each other, he took in the sight of her, starting with the tiara and its small but elegant cloisonne coat of arms: the one the two of them had designed together, with the broadsword crossed over a red-barreled sketch pencil above the winged foot of Mercury, all on a blue field, and the engraved motto _Et Nihil Contundio Nos!_ Then the veil. Leslie's glowing face did not have single stroke of makeup except for some clear lip gloss, and she didn't need any to be as beautiful as she was. Then the white strapless silk satin gown with the lace over the shoulders. Her bouquet was a mix of white roses and white chrysanthemums, but liberally colored with a third flower: African violets, and Jess suddenly realized why May Belle had taken extra pains to do all the gardening chores and keep him out of the greenhouse since his return from college. And then, of course, the high-tops!

As Candy finished the processional song, leaned her guitar against the altar railing and took her place with the other bridesmaids, Bill Burke gently kissed his daughter, squeezed Jess's hand and stepped aside.

"Dearly Beloved," Reverend Herman began, "We are gathered here..."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT SOLICITING INPUT FROM YOU, THE READERS: While I have a good portion of Chapter 5 (the next chapter) already written, that chapter will be set mostly at the wedding reception, so there is plenty of potential for a lot of character interaction. Not just between the newlywed couple and the other characters (both canon and non-canon) but also interaction among the other characters outside of the couple's presence. I am opening myself to suggestions from you as to which characters you would like to see more of in the next chapter, (whether previously mentioned in this story or not). Note: while Leslie befriended Janice in the movie/book and I have Janice becoming one of the bridesmaids, I do not see Jess having become friends with Scott Hoager or Gary Fulcher; _however_, that wouldn't necessarily stop Hoager and Fulcher from becoming wedding crashers! (I haven't decided yet whether they do or not, and a lot will depend on your input!) If the fanfiction dot net Private Message system is up, please PM me with your suggestions/requests, and try to save the Review system for actual reviews. Thanks!**

**"Gussie" is Mrs. Myers' first name in the book. I presume it's short for Augusta or something like that. Like Miss Edmunds' first name, they never mention it in the movie, but in this case I decided to go with book canon.**

**The name of Brenda's boyfriend, Jimmy Dicks, is taken from book canon. I don't recall his name coming up in the movie.**

**I personally had a lot of reservations about using Peter Yarrow's _The Wedding Song_ as the processional; I've never particularly liked that song, and in the case of the one wedding in which I participated (as an usher) where it was used as a processional, the marriage ended very tragically. On the other hand, considering the genre and musical era that was shown to be her specialty in the movie, I can't logically think of any other song that Miss Edmunds/Mrs. Brubaker would or could have suggested she sing for Jess and Leslie, or that they would have otherwise asked her to sing!**

**Like IHateSnakes, I'm Catholic and I seriously considered making the Aarons family Catholic as he did for his _A Life Rescued_ (and having Leslie convert to Catholicism); while the book specifies that they're Protestant, there's nothing in the movie that spells out that they _aren't_ Catholic (although May Belle's rant in the back of the pickup after Church does sound very fundamentalist), and in fact, the Church scenes appear to have been filmed in a Catholic church, with Stations of the Cross and other Catholic iconography. In the end, the decision to keep them Protestant boiled down to my having Leslie ask to be baptized in the creek as mentioned in Chapter 1. **

**Oh, yes! On the remote chance that the _real life_ Reverend Herman happens to stumble across this story on the web and recognizes himself: yep, it's me, your old Army buddy, and I adopted the pen name of Mad Tom from the character I created in that other fan fiction work you read years ago! And you're still my favorite Protestant minister! **

**;-) **

**Comments are, as always, invited and encouraged. Again, no promises as to how soon the next chapter will be up.**


	5. Chapter 5

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Chapter 5

_"I, Jesse Oliver Aarons, take you, Leslie Judith Burke, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and cherish, forsaking all others, as long we both shall live..."_

_"I, Leslie Judith Burke, take you, Jesse Oliver Aarons, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and cherish, forsaking all others, as long we both shall live..."_

"By the power vested in me by Almighty God and the Commonwealth of Virginia, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. What God hath put together, let no person put asunder! You may now kiss the Bride!"

Jess placed his hands on Leslie's waist and she cupped her hands around his face. As their lips met, Reverend Herman announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Oliver Aarons!"

The crowd broke into applause. The pastor then took a leather folder from a shelf in the pulpit, opened it and waited for Jess and Leslie to finish their kiss. The three of them signed the marriage certificate, with Candy and Brad signing as witnesses. And then as the organist started Mendelsohn's Wedding March, Corinna handed the bouquet back to Leslie and the parties exited back up the aisle. The Bride and Groom exchanged embraces with both sets of parents and then stood with them and the pastor at the doorway, greeting the attendees as they exited.

There was a little bit of logistical shuffling around for the procession to the reception; Jess, of course, got into the limousine that Leslie and the bridesmaids had come in, along with May Belle's boyfriend Walt; the Burkes got into the other stretch limousine with Jack and Nancy, the three ushers and their guests; the Brubakers, Janice's boyfriend Rick, and May Belle's friend Alexandra and her date all drove in their own respective vehicles.

As Jess and Leslie settled into the back seat with another cozy kiss, Joyce Ann giggled giddily. "So how's it feel, you guys?"

"Shut up and let 'em kiss!" May Belle elbowed her.

* * *

The Millsburg Country Club, actually about midway between Lark Creek and the city limits of Millsburg, was easily the most elegant and upscale gathering place in Mills County. A few of the literary friends and associates of well-known authors William Burke and Judith Hancock-Burke who were among the guests might have privately thought that the two of them had settled for something less affluent than fitting for their only daughter's wedding, but for Bill and Judy, their daughter and her bridegroom, it met their needs perfectly. While a fairly new and modern facility, the exterior colonial architecture with white walls, a front portico, a colonnaded back porch that spanned the width of the building, and a cupola on a green-shingled roof would not have looked out of place in the days of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The broad, well-tended garden that separated the building from the highway provided a perfect backdrop for the formal wedding pictures, and as soon as the procession arrived, the photographer hired by the Burkes herded the wedding party from the limousines and other vehicles and busily began posing them.

Some of the guests were still heading from the parking lot to the portico as the posed photography finished, and the dates of the wedding party members who were not in the party themselves stood nearby. Janice hooked her arm around Rick's and led him toward the Brubakers. "Candy, Brad and Cory, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Sergeant Rick Salerno. Rick, this is Mrs. Candy Brubaker, my old Music teacher from elementary school, her husband, Lieutenant Commander Bradford Brubaker, United States Naval Reserve, and their daughter Corinna."

Rick snapped reflexively to attention and saluted crisply. "Sir!"

"Hey, relax, Sergeant!" Brad grinned as he returned the salute, then shook his hand. "As a matter of fact, as long as one of us isn't in uniform, let's make it Brad and Rick, okay?"

"Yes, sir!... uh, Brad."

Bill and Judy pulled the newlyweds aside. "Leslie, Jess," Bill said softly, "before we go inside, we'd like to talk to you in the limo for a second."

"Sure, Dad," Leslie nodded. The two couples headed to the parking area where the limo drivers had moved their vehicles after dropping off their passengers, Bill and Judy smiling mysteriously. The two couples got in the back of one limousine and faced each other.

"We wanted to give you your wedding present," Judy said, "and we didn't want to make a big scene of it!"

"Well, Mom and Dad," Leslie smiled, "since you've never actually sat down and talked to us about it, we have no idea what it is... do we, Jess?"

"No," Jess shrugged.

Bill grinned as he reached into the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. "Leslie, Jess, this is a surprise that's been a year and a half in the making!" He pulled out a vinyl pouch and handed it to his daughter.

Leslie opened the pouch and unfolded the thick document inside as Jess looked over her shoulder. The heading on the first page read:

PROPERTY DEED

TOWN OF LARK CREEK

MILLS COUNTY

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

As the newlyweds started reading the document, Bill continued, "Shortly after you two left for Eastwood your freshman year, the Town Council raised the issue of increasing revenue by selling off some of the unincorporated land within the town limits. They wanted to increase the property tax base. The majority of the council didn't want to re-zone too much of the land for development but didn't want to hang on to it either. They wanted to continue to have open land, especially any land on the creek itself or its tributaries. They wanted to keep the water clean for fishing and swimming. But they still wanted to be able to get revenue from the land. They were willing to sell cheap if they could find buyers who agreed not to build on the land but still pay the taxes. So your mom and I..."

"Oh, my gosh, Jess!" Leslie gasped as her father's words sunk in and she read the particulars of the deed and looked at a section of survey map included. "_You and I actually own Terabithia!_"

Jess gasped as well, as his eyes opened wide. "Oh, my God! Bill! Judy! You shouldn't have!"

"Why not?" Judy smiled. "You didn't hear about it because you were away at college, but they called it 'The Great Lark Creek Watershed Land Grab'. So we decided to grab this one particular piece of land that means so much to you two. And don't worry, we'll continue to pay the taxes until you graduate and are on your feet financially."

"How did you know where Terabithia even is exactly?" Leslie asked. "Jess, you didn't tell them!"

"No, Leslie! This is just as much of a surprise to me as it is to you!"

"May Belle showed us," Bill smiled. "And it looks like she's kept the secret for a year and a half. Jess, she hasn't even told _your_ folks, apparently."

They all nodded in mutual understanding. Jess's parents and older sisters had thrown in together to pay for the couple's honeymoon cruise, and while the two families had long looked past their socioeconomic differences, the Aarons family didn't need to have their wedding gift eclipsed, publicly or privately. It was obvious now why they were doing this in the back of a limousine in the parking lot. Jess nodded at his new in-laws in wordless thanks.

"So tonight when you go to your little Castle," Judy smiled, "you won't be squatting on public land, you'll be sleeping on your own property!"

"Thanks, Mom! Dad!" Leslie said as the two couples exchanged embraces. It was cramped and awkward inside even a stretch limo, but they managed.

"I'll hold on to the deed for now," Bill said, taking back the document and pouch.

As they stepped back out of the limousine, they saw May Belle standing a few feet away with Walt, a mischievous grin on her face. Both Jess and Leslie mouthed a "Thank you!" to her.

They proceeded into the building, where a large screen computer monitor in the foyer read "BURKE-AARONS WEDDING: Grand Ballroom" with an arrow pointing down a hallway to the right. Ahead of them they saw the three ushers and their dates, the Brubaker family, and Janice and Rick, filter through the doorway along with the other guests and in no particular order or rhythm. Nancy and Jack, however, insisted on waiting with their two youngest daughters and Walt, for the Bride and Groom and for Bill and Judy.

Although Leslie had insisted-- with Jess's wholehearted concurrence-- on as little formality and protocol as possible, especially with the dispensation of a formal announcement of the wedding participants, nevertheless a huge round of applause met them when they entered as a group.

The guests were already milling around and socializing, with an hors d'oeuvres table laid out. Even though both the Bride and Groom were below the legal drinking age-- as were a large percentage of the guests-- the large number of older relatives, former and current teachers, professors and coaches, business associates of Bill and Judy Burke and of Jack Aarons, plus a special deal offered by the country club management, had made an open bar indispensible. The bartenders, however, were quick and diligent in carding anyone of questionable age, and ink-stamping the backs of the hands of those confirmed to be of legal age. The DJ, a professional who was also a petty officer in Brad's reserve unit, had set up and was playing some soft rock.

Various guests approached the newlyweds and embraced them in congratulations. Jess and Leslie were quick to realize that, having grown up together and gone off to college together, they pretty much knew all of each other's relatives and had had the same circles of friends and acquaintances at three different schools for nearly a decade, so there was little need for introduction. For that matter, both of them had gotten to know most of Bill and Judy's literary associates over the years.

"Jess!" his father called as his parents approached with another, older couple. "I'd like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. McKenna. Mr. McKenna's the regional manager for Sure Value, so he's my boss. Todd, this is our son Jesse, and of course our brand-new daughter-in-law Leslie."

"Pleased to meet you," Jess shook their hands. "Thanks for coming."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Leslie smiled as she did likewise, "and ma'am."

"Of course!" Mr. McKenna smiled. "I met you very briefly at your sister's wedding... When was that? Three or four years ago?"

"Five," Jack told them.

"My goodness, you seemed so much younger then! How time flies!"

"And aren't you the same young lady who was his companion then?" Mrs. McKenna looked at Leslie.

"Yes, ma'am, I am!" she smiled back.

"And now you're married! Isn't that sweet!"

"Thank you," Leslie and Jess both replied.

"Well, God bless! Congratulations and good luck to you both!"

Leslie led Jess toward the head table. "I just want to put down the bouquet for now."

"Sure."

"You know, your dad sure is a lot more relaxed than he was at Ellie's wedding," she said.

"Well, obviously, a big part of it is that he's not picking up the tab for this one!" he laughed. "He'd only been the General Manager for about a year, so that still put a big dent in the family budget."

"Ellie's wedding was still a pretty decent bash for what he had to work with," Leslie nodded. "My parents could take a few lessons in frugality from yours."

They made their way in front of the head table until they found the seats for the bride and groom. Leslie reached over the table and placed the bouquet on her seat just as an old familiar voice boomed out behind them.

"Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke-Aarons!" As they turned to face her, Mrs. Myers pulled the newlyweds into a hug, and then beamed at them as she separated. "Look at you two!"

"Thanks for coming, Mrs. Myers!" Jess smiled.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Mrs. Myers blinked.

"I always knew you two had something special between you. I never said anything about it because it really wasn't my business, and I don't believe in playing matchmaker with _anybody_, let alone with my Fifth Graders. But I just let nature take its course. And I can't tell you how happy I am that it did!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Myers," Leslie replied. "So you could see something between us back when we were in your class?"

"I'm grateful you two were subtle about it," Mrs. Myers continued to smile, "but I knew there was _something_ going on, especially after Spring Break that year. A lot of stuff in your body language and the way you looked at each other. Candy told me about her taking the two of you to the National Gallery that week, but she wasn't sure if that's where it started. She thought there was a lot more that must've gone on after that trip that she didn't know about."

"She sure got that right!" Jess laughed.

"As I said, I'm grateful that you two never went public with whatever you had. I mean, like groping each other and playing tonsil hockey in the hallways. The last thing any of us needed was for young Messrs Hoager and Fulcher and the rest of the class to have more ammo with which to tease the two of you!"

"Hey!" Leslie giggled, "Jess and I may have been geeks, but we were no dummies, Mrs. Myers!"

"My point exactly! Whatever the two of you had going back then, it was extraordinarily mature in the way you conducted yourselves. I kept my eye on you two all the way until you went on to high school, and I never saw raging hormones. I just saw a kind of love that very few people ever get to know."

"Thank you, Mrs. Myers," Jess and Leslie said together as they squeezed each other's hands.

There was a pregnant pause. "So, where are you two going on your honeymoon?" Mrs. Myers finally asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Well..." Leslie replied, "there's a patch of land in back of our homes that my parents just bought for us. We have... let's just call it a little cabin in the woods there, and we're going to spend the next couple of nights out there. Then Tuesday we go down to Norfolk and go on a two week cruise around the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. It hits all the great scuba diving areas!"

Mrs. Myers furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Scuba diving, Leslie?" she shook her head. "Why, I would've guessed that you'd try something newer and more adventurous!"

As Leslie broke eye contact and stared down at her sneakers, Jess jumped in to her rescue. "It's new to me, Mrs. Myers! I just started taking scuba lessons last summer!"

"Jess," Leslie said, her face flushing, "it's time for me to 'fess up. I guess there's a Statute of Limitations on fraudulent grade school essays, and I assume it's less than nine years." She turned back to their old teacher. "Mrs. Myers, we _both_ started taking scuba lessons last summer! I'd never actually--"

Old Monster Mouth burst out laughing as the couple stared at her in disbelief. In Jess's nine years and Leslie's four at Lark Creek Elementary, they'd seldom seen her smile and had never seen or heard her laugh. "Leslie," she wheezed after several seconds, "my late husband and I used to _teach_ scuba diving down in Virginia Beach every summer! Air bubbles don't-- what was the phrase you used?-- 'wobble around like little jellyfish' so much. They pretty much shoot straight up for the surface. But I guess you've discovered that by now."

Leslie stood with her mouth hanging open as Mrs. Myers continued wheezing with laughter, finally joining in after Jess did.

"It's okay, Leslie," Mrs. Myers smiled and patted her shoulder. "The Statute of Limitations ran out when you moved on to Sixth Grade. And Stephen Crane had never been in a war or even served in the military when he wrote _The Red Badge of Courage_. But most Civil War veterans thought he did a pretty decent job with it. Not perfect, but pretty decent. Same with this old scuba instructor and your essay."

_"The stories that girl could come up with!"_ Mrs. Myers' voice, this time sadly mournful, echoed from the recesses of Jess's mind. Once in a while, it didn't take much to trigger a flashback to that nightmarish alternate reality that only he remembered firsthand. He pulled Leslie closer to him, and she rested her head on his shoulder in automatic response; over the years she'd learned to sense what was happening when he did that.

"But I'm really glad you're actually learning to scuba dive, Leslie," Mrs. Myers continued in the present. "Stephen Crane may have done a lot of research and interviewed a lot of Civil War veterans, but no research can replace actual hands-on life experience. A lot of people think _The Red Badge of Courage_ was the greatest Civil War novel ever written, but I personally think _The Killer Angels_ was. Granted, I may be prejudiced because I graduated from the same university as Michael Shaara the author, but..."

"Michael Shaara was a genius!" Leslie exclaimed. "I loved _The Killer Angels_! It was fact-based, but it was the Battle of Gettysburg as Greek or Shakespearean Tragedy! But Shaara didn't _fabricate_ the Greek Tragedy, he found it in real history."

Mrs. Myers raised an eyebrow. "Really, Leslie! I would have never guessed that _The Killer Angels_ was ever on your reading list."

"I came across the DVD of the movie version and gave Jess a copy for his birthday a couple of years ago, then we both decided to read the book after we watched it," Leslie smiled. "It's kind of silly, but I was drawn to the movie in the first place because the actor who played Colonel Chamberlain reminded me of my dad, even though they don't look anything alike." She paused. "But what does this have to do with research versus real-life experience? Michael Shaara was born about sixty or seventy years after the Battle of Gettysburg and wrote _The Killer Angels_ well over a hundred years after the battle, so he certainly couldn't have been there!"

"But he'd fought in the Korean War," Mrs. Myers explained. "It may have been a different war on a different continent in a different century, but unlike Stephen Crane, Michael Shaara had seen the elephant-- as the Civil War veterans liked to say-- when he wrote _his_ great war novel." She smiled. "I'll tell you what, Leslie. Even though the Statute of Limitations _has_ run out, to prove the point, I expect an essay on scuba diving from you after you two get back from your honeymoon. Even taking age and maturity into consideration, I'm sure we'll see a vast difference in perspective from your first essay!"

"You've got it!" Leslie nodded.

"I personally believe that that's a big part of why Michael Shaara's son Jeffrey has never quite been able to fill his father's shoes in terms of quality, despite all the historical war novels _he's_ written," Mrs. Myers nodded. "All research and no hands-on experience." She gave the newlyweds another hug, then stepped over to join the Brubakers. The canary-eating grins shared by Mrs. Myers and Candy-- or Starsky and Hutch-- told Leslie that she'd been set up by one of her own bridesmaids.

The Burkes, who had been milling around nearby socializing with various guests, stepped up with Bill placing his arms around his daughter's shoulders.

"Sorry, we couldn't help overhearing a lot of that conversation," he smiled. "So how exactly does this blond-haired actor playing a Civil War colonel remind you of me?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it, Dad," Leslie pouted. "The real-life Colonel Chamberlain had a wife and two kids, but they never showed or mentioned them in the movie. But every time I saw his face on screen, the word 'Daddy' just kept popping up in my head."

"And if you don't mind my asking," Bill continued, "did I hear the phrase 'Statute of Limitations' keep coming up?"

"After almost ten years, your almost-too-perfect-to-be-true daughter has finally been busted!" Jess grinned, then kissed his new wife. "Turns out Mrs. Myers knew all along that she'd made up an essay back in Fifth Grade about her supposed favorite hobby of scuba diving!"

The Burkes both laughed, then smiled at each other. "Well, well!" Bill grinned to his daughter and new son-in-law. "Since now seems to be the time for coming clean, it's about time both of you realized that neither of you are as sneaky as you think you are."

Leslie and Jess looked nervously at each other and chorused, "Uh oh!"

"Leslie, honey," Judy smiled, "the reason Dad and I never objected or said anything when you two moved in together last year is because we knew you'd been sneaking off to sleep in the same bed with him whenever he stayed over. Ever since that first time that night after he saved your life nine years ago."

"You knew that first night?" Jess gulped as he and Leslie turned red.

Bill snickered. "Neither of you noticed that Leslie went to sleep with just her feet under the covers that night and that she was completely under the covers when you woke up?"

"Well, uh, yeah, Dad," Leslie stammered. "But I uh, just assumed that I'd pulled them over myself in my sleep."

"You two looked so cute together!" Judy smiled. "_We_ pulled the covers over you."

"That night and every other night that Jess stayed over, until you gave up on keeping only your feet under the covers!" Bill grinned.

"You two looked so cute!" Judy repeated. "So sweet and innocent. And Leslie, you had a smile of peace and contentment that we hadn't seen since before you started Kindergarten. We didn't have the heart to wake you up or say anything about it."

"We decided not to say anything and pretend to still be asleep in the morning," Bill added, "until you either went back to your own room or got up to make breakfast." He chuckled, then glanced around the room until he spotted Judy's brother and sister-in-law well out of earshot. "Uh, ever since the first time Uncle Mark and Aunt Kelly visited, we discovered that a couple cannot get frisky in that bed without us hearing it in _our_ room!"

"We decided as long as we didn't hear _you two_ doing anything," Judy smiled at her daughter, "and as long as you kept having that innocent, peaceful and contented look on your face whenever we checked up on you, we weren't going to say anything. And we never heard anything and never stopped seeing it in over seven years of Jess staying over three or four nights a month, all the way to when you left for Eastwood. And the nights he stayed over when you came home last summer."

Bill lowered his voice. "So if you two tell us you're both still virgins, we have no reason to doubt you. And we have to admit, that's more than we could say on our wedding day!"

"But then after all," Judy beamed, "you two were the ones who got us going to church again after being away for over fifteen years."

"Thanks, Mom and Dad," Leslie smiled, then turned to Jess. "Didn't I tell you from the very start that they trusted us?"

"Yeah..." Jess nodded, half-smiling. Then his smiled faded with his eyes staring off across the room, and then he groaned. "Oh, no!"

"Jess, what's wrong?" Leslie looked at him, then waited for a response before waving her hand in front of his face. "Earth to Jess!" As she turned to the direction he was looking, her jaw dropped and her heart sank. "Oh, no!"

Judy and Bill looked and saw what appeared to be a small knot of guests near the entrance whom they recognized mostly as old classmates from elementary and high school, nothing out of the ordinary. "Earth to Leslie! Earth to Leslie!" Bill chuckled and waved his hand in front of her.

"Come on!" Jess finally spoke as he pulled Leslie by the hand. "Let's nip this in the bud right now!"

The couple headed in the general direction of that knot of guests, but Leslie pulled Jess into a slight detour to where the Brubakers and Mrs. Myers were still standing and chatting. "Mrs. Myers," Leslie rolled her eyes, "you _had to_ speak of the devil, didn't you!"

"What devil, Leslie?" Mrs. Myers squinted back at her. She tried to recall the specifics of their earlier conversation as she and Candy looked toward the knot of guests where the couple were headed. Then they both saw two males about the same age as the newlyweds, both wearing vinyl faux-leather sports jackets over plaid shirts: one a lean, distinctly rodent-faced young man with black hair in a Mullet, and the other young man, pudgy with freckles and bright red hair.

"Oh, no!" Gussie Myers and Candy Edmunds-Brubaker chorused.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**I decided to break up the wedding reception into at least two chapters. I already mentioned in my Author's Notes in Chapter 4 about the possibility of wedding crashers, so I realize that this isn't as much of a cliffhanger as it should have been. **

**THIS IS THE LAST CALL FOR READER INPUT as to which characters you would like to see more of in the next chapters (whether canon or non-canon, previously mentioned in this story or not) and what you would like to see happen with these characters. Again, preferrably please PM me and save the Reviews page for actual reviews!**

**Jesse's middle name, which is not mentioned in the movie, is Oliver according to book canon. Leslie has no middle name mentioned in either movie or book canon. It doesn't mean she has none, and I just feel she should have one. I'm in the habit, in these situations in my fanfic writing, of using either the character's same sex parent's first name (if known) or that character's actor's first name as the middle name. "Leslie AnnaSophia Burke" just didn't seem to fit! **

**Regarding Mrs. Myers' comments about Stephen Crane and _The Red Badge of Courage_ versus Michael Shaara and _The Killer Angels_: _I_ graduated from the same university as Michael Shaara, and those opinions are my own with that same caveat.**

**Regarding Leslie's comments about why she was so drawn to the movie version of _The Killer Angels_, that's a Fourth Wall reference to AnnaSophia Robb's filmography, much like Leslie's comments in other people's fanfics, such as (and I'm paraphrasing here!): "I met Johnny Depp once, and he even gave me some chocolate!"; "That girl who kept chewing gum in _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ was so annoying!"; and "I like reading about Samantha from _The American Girl_ series, even if it's really for younger kids!" You just have to dig a little deeper to find that connection, and bonus points go to anyone who figures it out and PMs me! (Hint: the movie version of _The Killer Angels_ ended up being released under a different title.)**

**Comments are, as always, invited and encouraged. Again, no promises as to how soon the next chapter will be up.**


	6. Chapter 6

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Chapter 6

"You don't suppose they'll just leave quietly if we ask them to?" Leslie asked with a glimmer of hope, stopping herself and Jess while still several feet away from the knot of old elementary and high school classmates.

"That's my Leslie, for whom hope springs eternal!" Jess smiled. "But you can't possibly have forgotten that these two jackasses were still calling you 'Cave Girl' and going 'Beep! Beep! Beep! Loser Detector!' the day we graduated from high school!"

"Jess, I _know_ they can't be up to any good! I know those two couldn't have changed their spots in the last two years if they didn't in the previous eight! But I don't want to make a big scene!"

"Me either. Maybe we should just ask the club to have their security people escort them out."

Leslie grimaced. "That may actually trigger the big scene that we're trying to avoid." She paused thoughtfully. "Jess, we can handle this with class and grace. We're bigger than that."

"Somewhow I think they know that and are gonna take advantage of it."

"You're right. But why don't we just go up to them and subtly remind them that they weren't invited, _without_ actually telling them to leave."

"And if they decide not to leave and start their shenanigans?" Jess asked. "Or rather _when_ they decide to start their shenanigans?"

"Then they can't say we didn't warn them." Her eyes twinkled. "And then we can get creative in how we deal with them!"

Jess chuckled. "Like the Willard Hughes love note!"

"Not so loud!" Leslie laughed, looking around and seeing that Janice and Rick were, thankfully, well out of earshot at the hors d'oeuvres table. "Remember, you and I still officially neither confirm nor deny anything to do with that!"

They both drew a deep breath and continued on toward the loose knot of guests, quickly exchanging greetings and accepting the congratulations of those few with whom they hadn't done so earlier. Then they came upon the Squoger and the Vulture.

"Aarons! Burke!" Scott Hoager said through a mouthful of jumbo shrimp. "Congratulations! Great spread!" He took a sip of sparkling liquid from a champagne glass, and Jess and Leslie noted that the backs of both his hand and Gary Fulcher's were stamped as being of legal drinking age. Each was holding both a plateful of food and a champagne glass, and neither extended a hand.

"Didn't anyone teach you two idiots," Leslie sighed in a discreet whisper, "that the the most important thing about crashing a wedding is to crash those where you don't know either the bride _or_ the groom? That way you can tell the friends of one that the other invited you."

"Of course," Jess added, "we realize when you're from a small town like Lark Creek, that's a tough thing to do. And of course, when confronted by the bride and groom together-- like right now-- it doesn't make any difference! But for future reference, you two need to broaden your horizons. Like to outside Mills County!"

"And preferrably to outside the Eastern Time Zone!" Leslie added.

Fulcher washed down his mouthful of food with a big gulp from his champagne glass. "We're not crashing your wedding! We just stopped by to congratulate you two!"

Jess stared at the large piles of hors d'oeuvres on both plates. "Just stopped by. Right!"

"Is this any way to treat a couple of old friends?" Hoager asked with a thick layer of feigned hurt. "Can't accept sincere congratulations?"

"Ha!" Jess shook his head. "In what chemically induced hallucination of yours were we ever friends, Hoager?"

"Okay," Leslie said abruptly. "Thank you for your congratulations. Have a nice day. Somewhere else!"

She took Jess by the arm and led him back toward the head table without looking back. "They're not leaving, are they!"

Jess turned his head just enough to catch them in the corner of his eye. "You knew that was a long shot!"

She put her arm around his waist, closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder, then began murmuring: "They are _not_ going to ruin our wedding day! They are _not_ going to ruin our wedding day! They are _not_ going to ruin our wedding day!..."

"Now's the time to start thinking creatively!"

"I know," Leslie sighed, "but I didn't want to have to!"

The Burkes and the Brubakers approached them as they reached the head table. "Leslie, Jess," her father said, "Candy just told us who the two boys you were talking to were. Should I ask the club manager to call security?"

"No!" Leslie said quickly. "Dad, I don't want to make an ugly scene if I can avoid it!"

"From what Candy tells us," Judy said, "those two are liable to make an ugly scene whether or not we do anything about it."

"We can deal, Mom!" Leslie replied. "Jess and I are adults, we're halfway through college. We can deal..."

"But you shouldn't have to!" Judy said quickly. "This is supposed to be the happiest day of your lives! Don't let a couple of schoolyard bullies who never outgrew it-- and whom you didn't even invite-- ruin it for you!"

"We won't, Mom!"

"Well," Bill nodded reluctantly, "if either of you change your minds, you let me or Brad know and we'll take care of it. Okay?"

"Okay, Dad."

"Leslie," Jess said, "maybe your dad's right..."

"We'll keep an eye on those two and we'll deal, Jess. If we can't, _then_ we'll call security."

"I know it's a buffet," Bill added, "but I don't like the idea of feeding two thugs you don't even want here."

* * *

"Hoager! Fulcher! Fancy running into you here!"

The two of them glanced over at the strawberry-blonde young woman in the light blue dress approaching them, and then did a double take.

"Janice Avery?" Hoager stared at her. "Damn! Nobody's seen much of you since you graduated from high school!"

"I've been out in the world," Janice nodded. "What about you guys?"

"Been working at the bowling alley in town," Hoager shrugged. "Fulcher's working for his dad's landscaping business."

"Didn't recognize you at first," Fulcher said. "You sure lost weight!"

"Yeah, five years in the Marine Corps will do that to you!" Janice nodded. "Actually, I haven't _lost_ that much weight, I'm only ten pounds lighter than I was when I graduated from high school. I just converted most of it from flab to muscle. Or rather the Marines did!"

"So, you still in?" Hoager asked.

"I've been in the Reserves since last year, and going to college at Eastwood with Leslie and Jess."

"Oh!" Fulcher opened his eyes wider. "I just noticed! You're wearing the same dress as Lose-- I mean Aarons' sisters and Miss Edmunds!"

"That's right! I'm a bridesmaid." She leaned in and lowered her voice. "Throwing out the uninvited is not part of the duties of a bridesmaid, but I happened to help Leslie with mailing the invitations, so I know that neither of you two were sent one!"

"Cave-- I mean Burke and Aarons just said we could stay," Hoager said indignantly. "Right, Fulcher?"

"They didn't ask us to leave!" Fulcher said through a mouthful of Swedish meatballs.

"Leslie and Jess have a lot more class than that," Janice glared. "But some of us have an eye on you two, so watch yourselves!"

"Oh!" Hoager looked at her. "This coming from the girl who used to extort money from the littler kids who needed to use the playground bathroom in elementary school!"

"That was ten years ago," Janice shook her head. "Some of us grew out of it and went out into the real world."

"And some of us also got knocked down a few pegs when their dad ended up in jail," Fulcher snickered.

Janice clenched her fists, then reminded herself that she was at the wedding of her two now oldest friends, whom she was sure didn't want her to make a scene. Her boiling rage was immediately cooled down by an arm coming around her waist.

"Everything okay here?" Rick asked.

Janice exhaled and forced a smile. "Yeah. Rick, I'd like you to meet Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher. They were in Leslie and Jess's class in elementary and high school. Guys, this is my boyfriend Rick."

"Hi," the two boys nodded, their body language subtly, involuntarily showing a backdown. Subconsciously, they knew they were no match for two Marines, even if one was female.

"Oh," Janice said. "And speaking of being in Leslie and Jess's class, Leslie's nineteen and Jess is twenty. How is it that you two have _your_ hands stamped as being of legal drinking age?"

"We're both over twenty-one!" Hoager said indignantly. "We showed the bartenders our driver's licenses!"

"Yeah," Janice nodded. "Let's see... That means that both of you morons must've gotten left back in what? First or Second Grade? And that you're both a year older than Jess and two years older than Leslie, and they both _still_ beat the pants off both of you for four years straight, in the First Day of School Race!"

"Uh... yeah!" Hoager nodded reluctantly.

"Ohhhkay!" Janice smirked as she and Rick walked off.

"Idiot!" Fulcher said through clenched teeth as he punched Hoager's arm with the same hand in which he held his champagne glass, splashing liquid on both of them.

"Hey! It's either that, or Cave Girl's Old Man is liable to have them recheck our licenses. And then they might have us arrested for carrying forged ones!"

* * *

"Leslie? Jess?" Grandma Burke came up to the couple.

"Yes, Grandma?" Leslie replied.

"Your dad just told me that you have a couple of uninvited guests."

"More like uninvited _pests_!" Leslie managed to smile. "But I told Dad I don't want to make a scene with security."

"That's understandable," Grandma Burke nodded.

"Did Leslie ever tell you about the kids who made fun of her, her first week at Lark Creek, because she didn't have a TV?" Jess asked.

"The ones who asked if she lived in a cave?" Grandma Burke frowned. "Yes, I remember. Don't tell me it's the same ones!"

"Yes, Grandma," Leslie sighed.

"Those two goons tried to torment us for eight years," Jess said. "We ended up developing thick skins because of them. I thought we were rid of them when we went off to college."

"That which does not kill you makes you stronger," Grandma Burke nodded. "But this should be the happiest day of your lives. I understand you don't want to make a scene, but don't take any crap off them!"

"You think we should call security then," Leslie said.

"That's up to you two, Sweetheart. But there's something else I want to tell you."

"What, Grandma?"

"Don't expect a perfect day, and don't let the imperfections keep this from being the happiest day of your lives. It's the little imperfections that make this day your very own."

"I think I know what you mean."

"I don't think I ever told you what happened on your grandfather's and my wedding day, did I?"

"No," Leslie shook her head.

"The limousine overheated and broke down between the church and the reception," Grandma Burke chuckled to herself. "Everyone had gone ahead directly to the reception while we stopped to pose for pictures at a park. So it was just me, your grandfather, his brother Tommy who was the best man, and my sister Patty who was the maid of honor, in the limousine, the photographer in his old converted little school bus. And the two ushers, Leon and Barry-- your grandfather's best friends from college-- and the two other bridesmaids, in Leon's old car, this beat-up twelve year old Oldsmobile that was at least five different shades of blue from several bad paint jobs. So there we were, pulled over on the side of the highway and the chauffeur had to walk a half mile to get to a phone booth and call his company, and since it was the peak of wedding season, they didn't have any other limousine available as a replacement. So your grandfather and I had a choice of pulling up to the reception in an old school bus or this beat up Oldsmobile. But at least the Olds was a regular car."

"I would've been mortified," Leslie laughed.

"We were at first, but once we hit the road again, we started laughing about it. And you know what? Pulling up in that beat up old Oldsmobile was one of the best memories your grandfather and I had of that day! A few weeks later, Leon bought a new car and gave the keys to his old one to us, and we stuck them in our wedding album. We were the only couple we knew who had the keys to their 'wedding linousine'! Remind me to show them to you the next time you two come up for a visit!"

"Sure thing, Grandma!" Leslie smiled.

"Like I said, it's the little imperfections that make a wedding your own and make the best memories."

"You were able to laugh about something like that?" Jess asked.

"Well, Leon and Barry were your grandpa's best friends, and the three of them did a lot of driving around in that beat up old Olds while they were in college. Leon was going to get a new car real soon, and pulling wedding limo duty got to be its last hurrah." Grandma Burke shot a glance over at the two intruders. "We found the glass half full, Leslie. You're our granddaughter, so you will with this too. I guarantee it!"

"I'll hold you to that, Grandma!"

* * *

After another half hour or so of drinks, hors d'oeuvres, soft music and socializing, Brad took the podium near the bride and groom's seats at the head table, and invited everyone to take their seats, advising those over 21 who wished to toast with real champagne to bring it to the table from the bar, as only sparkling grape juice would be poured at the tables. It took about another ten minutes for everyone to settle in.

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm Brad Brubaker," he announced. "I'll be the first to admit that I'm the Best Man at this wedding by default. Normally, the job of Best Man goes to the Groom's best friend, but Jess's best friend had other duties to perform at this wedding... She's the young blonde lady in white over there!" He paused for the audience's "Awww!"s and light applause.

"I'm happy to say that that's the way it was at _my_ wedding to Mrs. Brubaker," he continued. "Candy and I knew Jess and Leslie when they were little, and we watched them grow up together. We watched them grow from two bright but quiet and rather withdrawn outcasts--" he shot a short but meaningful glare at the table where Hoager and Fulcher had parked themselves "--into a fine young lady and gentleman, both of them brilliant and talented; both of them highly successful academically, artistically and athletically, who found their successes by loving and nurturing each other, and giving each other strength. I don't believe there's anyone here who doesn't agree that Leslie and Jess are the two parts of a single whole, and that the ceremony we just had at the church today is really only a formality for a marriage that had its beginnings nearly ten years ago." He raised his glass. "So, Leslie and Jess, here's to a marriage that's been a decade in the making and to decades and decades of more happiness together. To Leslie and Jess!"

"Hear! Hear!" the guests called out, and everyone took a sip of liquid. Jess and Leslie exchanged a kiss to the applause and goblet-ringing of the guests.

"Now a word from the Father of the Bride!" Brad announced, then stepped back as Bill and Judy stood and stepped over.

"Leslie," Bill began, "some time ago, we're not sure exactly when-- it may have been as long ago as that day during Easter break our first year here in Lark Creek, or even before that, when you first told me how much you loved Jesse-- Mom and I realized that you and Jesse started to belong to each other, more than you belonged to us and Jesse belonged to Jack and Nancy. Today just marks the completion of that transition. And Jess, Judy and I couldn't have asked for a better husband for Leslie if God had given us a custom order form to fill out! Leslie, Mom and I can't remember ever seeing you happier at any time before Jess came into your life, and your happiness is our happiness. And Jess, I want to thank you for giving her that happiness! I don't see a need to welcome you into the family, as you've been a part of the family ever since that first time Leslie brought you home the day you helped us paint the gold room. But thanks for being there for Leslie, for loving her, and for giving her all the joy that you've brought her!"

The newlyweds stood and exchanged embraces with both of Leslie's parents, and then all raised their glasses to more applause and goblet-ringing.

"And now from the Father of the Groom!" Brad said after everyone settled back down.

Jack Aarons stepped up. "I'm not a man of many words," he began. "Jess, you've grown up into a good man, and your momma and I are proud of you. You and I have had our differences as you were growing up, and I'll be the first to admit that I haven't been the perfect dad, and that Momma and I can't take credit for everything that's made you a better man. Most importantly, a great deal if not most of that credit belongs to the beautiful young lady sitting next to you whose hand you're holding!" He smiled as Leslie blushed. "And being a man of few words, I yield the rest of my time to the one member of the family who cannot remember a time when you weren't around, Leslie. Joyce Ann?"

Joyce Ann took the mike, while at the same time on a nod from Jack, Ellie and Brenda quietly stood up from one of the nearby tables and worked their way behind the head table. "Leslie, I can't remember you and Jess ever not being together. In fact, I think I was about three or four before I realized that you weren't one of my biological sisters whom Mom and Dad were mad at and had banished to sleep over at the neighbors!" The guests burst out with laughter.

"Notice I said _biological_ sister!" she continued. "Mom and Dad asked me to make sure to say this: we love you as if you were our own. Today just makes it official: you are now officially and legally one of the Aarons girls!" She paused as Leslie flushed and wiped away some tears, then stood to embrace Joyce Ann, her new parents-in-law and her other three sisters-in-law. Leslie returned to her seat to exchange another kiss with Jesse to a round of applause.

"Jess," Joyce Ann continued, "one of the drawbacks of marrying the Girl Next Door: if you aren't taking good care of her, you're not just gonna have to answer to the Burkes, you're gonna have to answer to your own family as well!" There was a burst of laughter from everyone.

"Now's the time for the Bride and Groom to each say a few words," Brad announced. "Leslie, ladies first!"

"Thanks, Brad," she said while still sitting down. "Jess can go first, I'd like to go last."

"Thanks," Jess nodded as he stood and went to the podium. "Thank you, everyone for being here and sharing this day with us!" He continued to speak into the mike but turned to his bride. "Leslie, you're not just my wife and my best friend, not just the love of my life. You're a part of me. You've been a part of me almost from the day we met. I can't imagine what my life would've been like without you." He paused with a smile; both of them knew and understood that it was a white lie and that he did live through that, but neither wanted to share that with anyone other than those who already knew the story. "A long time ago, you taught me to keep my mind wide open, and you helped me to keep it open, and that has made me who I am today. Every morning I wake up and thank God that you're in my life, and that I belong to you!"

Leslie stood up and kissed him to more applause and goblet ringing. She then took the podium.

"Jesse, not only have I loved you almost from the day we met, but everything I have I owe to you. I wouldn't even be alive today if it weren't for you, so I am yours forever!" She looked out at the guests. "Very few of you know this, but Jess has saved my life on at least one occasion. I'm not the Little Miss Perfect that Jess's family has painted me to be. I've done a few dumb things in my life. I can be reckless and impulsive and too fearless for my own good at times, and it's Jess who has my back when I'm like that." She looked into his eyes. "Jess, I may have taught you to close your eyes but keep your mind wide open, but you've kept me grounded. You've allowed me to keep my eyes on the stars but keep my feet on the ground." She looked out at the guests again. "Oh, and that's Theodore Roosevelt who said that, not me, not my dad, and _not_ Casey Kasem!" she giggled, then paused for the wave of laughter. "Jess, I'm going to repeat, as best as I can recall, the prayer _I_ said the day you saved my life that first time: Hey, God! I love you and I love your beautiful world! I love the wonderful life you gave me and then spared that day. And I love the wonderful person Jesse Oliver Aarons whom you've given me as my companion and my soul mate and my rescuer. Thank you for everything!"

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**I actually started this story as a short vignette, no longer than three or four chapters. Now that I've added the conversation with Mrs. Myers and the whole business with the wedding crashers, this is now longer than my original _Groundhogs at Terabithia_ and isn't even finished yet!**

**Some of you may ask: Is it realistic for someone to be so obnoxious throughout school without ever growing out of it, and then crash a wedding of two classmates to whom that someone acted so obnoxious, two years after graduating high school, and continue to be _that_ obnoxious? Well, I can't speak for crashing a wedding, but Hoager and Fulcher's behavior in this and upcoming chapters is patterned after that of a high school classmate of mine who spent the entire four years cutting up and putting down nearly everybody in sight, with special focus on me. (I look back upon him as the stone against which I whetted my own wit in coming back at him.) He didn't show up for our 10- and 15- year class reunions (by which time everyone had established a standard of decorum for the events) and showed up at the 20-year reunion still acting like an obnoxious teenager and making an ass of himself. (He obviously didn't get the memo!) I felt very embarrassed for his wife who was sitting there quietly beside him as he shot insults at everyone across the room all night long. (I might have dreaded going to the 25-year reunion if another classmate hadn't told me that he'd dropped dead in the interim.) But anyway, I don't think that Hoager and Fulcher are being presented unrealistically, based on that.**

**I actually owned an old beat up Oldsmobile in college that was five shades of blue from bad paint jobs, and that my two best friends and I drove around in a lot. When one of them got married after graduation, the other guy and I were ushers at the wedding, and were following the limo to the reception in my car, along with the photographer's converted school bus. So... ;-)**

**Comments are, as always, invited and encouraged. Again, no promises as to how soon the next chapter will be up.**


	7. Chapter 7

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Chapter 7

They yielded the podium to Reverend Herman who said a simple Grace with a few extra words for the newlyweds and for the marriage itself, and then the guests lined up by table for the buffet dinner.

There was the normal level of chatter as everyone dined. Once in a while there would be some loud guffaws that Leslie and Jess thought sounded suspiciously like the voices of Hoager and Fulcher. Or someone else from the table where they sat, made up mostly of their other Lark Creek classmates and track teammates, would cry out something like "You're being gross!" or "Shut up, Scott!" or "Quit making an ass of yourself, Gary!"

"Maybe we're doing a disservice to the rest of our classmates by not having Squoger and Vulture thrown out," Jess said to Leslie.

"Or maybe we can count on the rest of our class to clean its own house," she replied hopefully.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Do any of the others even know that we didn't invite those two?"

"Oh, they know," May Belle spoke up from Leslie's other side. Alexandra and I have been spreading the word."

"But will that be enough to keep those two clowns in check?" Jess wondered out loud.

"Hey, guys!" Janice, sitting beyond May Belle, Walt and Joyce Ann, called surreptitiously as she leaned backward in her seat. "Not to worry! After the cheap shot Fulcher just took at me and my family, Rick and I are working up Plan B." She laughed as she added, tongue in cheek: "It's gonna make the infamous Willard Hughes love note look like something dreamed up by a couple of Fifth Graders!"

Leslie giggled. "And you know we still neith--"

"I know! I know!" Janice raised her hand. "Neither confirm nor deny! Notice I said _the_ infamous Willard Hughes love note, not _your_ infamous Willard Hughes love note!"

"Okay!" Leslie nodded and smiled, then raised her champagne glass full of sparkling grape juice. "But here's hoping we won't _need_ Plan B, whatever it is!"

"Here's hoping!" Jess raised his glass.

"Actually," Leslie said, "by us even talking about them, I think we're giving them what they want. I'm going to try to pretend they're not even here."

"That might work," Jess nodded.

"Yeah," May Belle said, "I'd do that if I were you. There are enough people here who know those two who can keep them in check. If there's trouble, we'll deal. Until then, don't let 'em ruin your day. And I'm talking to both of you!"

The dinner went without incident from the Lark Creek classmates' table other than the continued although less frequent exclamations of "You're gross!" or "That's disgusting!" It seemed to Jess that Hoager and Fulcher were making more trips to the bar or the buffet tables than anyone else-- returning to the table with huge helpings of Prime Rib or Lobster Newburg-- but he told himself that he was just giving them additional scrutiny despite May Belle's advice. Fortunately, the obligatory and frequent exchange of kisses triggered by waves of goblet-ringing from the guests gave both newlyweds enough of a distraction.

After most of the guests had finished the main courses, Jess and Leslie went through the ritual of cutting the cake and feeding it to each other without incident. When most of the guests had finished dessert, Brad looked over to the rest of the head table and asked, "Are we ready for the first dance?"

Everyone nodded. Brad went to the podium and waved to get the attention of the DJ, then gave him a nod which was returned. As the song being played came to an end, Brad announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, those of you who went to Lark Creek Elementary since my wife Candy started teaching Music there know that her favorite genre of music is Oldies from the Sixties through the Eighties. And some of Jess and Leslie's favorite songs are those that they used to sing in Candy's class. The song that they consider _their_ song is one of them, but unfortunately it's not a song you can slow dance to, so we'll get to it later. But another one of their other favorites, the one to which they've chosen to dance their first dance as husband and wife, is also an Oldie, from the early Seventies that didn't make Candy's repertoire in class, but one that we introduced to them."

Jess and Leslie and both sets of parents stood and moved around the head table to the dance floor. Bill then began the ritual by taking Leslie's hand and leading her onto the floor as the DJ started the song by the group Mercy:

_Wake up in the morning with the sunshine in your eyes..._

Father and daughter danced slowly as Jess stood on the edge to time his entry.

_And the smell of flowers blooming fills the air._

_Your mind is filled with the thoughts of a certain someone - that you love..._

Jess cut in, kissed Leslie and held her close.

_Your life is filled with joy when she is there._

Judy then stepped onto the floor to join Bill, and then the two couples were joined by Jack and Nancy.

_Love can make you happy if you find someone who cares_

_To give..._

_A lifetime to you and who has a love to share._

_If you think you've found someone you'll love forevermore,_

_Then it's worth the price you'll have to pay (pay)._

_To have, to hold's important when forever is the phrase,_

_That means the love you've found is going to stay._

_Love can make you happy if you find someone who cares to give... _

_A lifetime to you and who has a love to share._

_La-love, la-love_

_Love can make you happy._

_Love can make you happy._

_Love can make you happy._

_Love..._

The three couples continued to slow dance as the DJ quickly faded to another Oldie, by The Association:

_You ask me if there'll come a time_

_When I'll grow tired of you._

_Never, my love._

_Never, my love..._

Several couples, including the Brubakers, May Belle and Walt, and Janice and Rick, joined the dancing, and then Nancy steped aside as Jack summoned Joyce Ann to join him.

"Okay!" the DJ announced as the song ended. "We're gonna liven things up a little here. The Father of the Bride has made a special request here. He started the First Dance ritual with the bride, but now he's asked for this song for _his_ special dance with her."

Jess stepped aside as Bill let go of Judy and again took Leslie's hands. As the new song started, Jess immediately recognized the lively piano introduction to Jon McLaughlin's _Another Layer_, and all four of them were immediately transported back to the afternoon that they painted the Burkes' living room their first year in Lark Creek, when that song came on the radio and Bill and Leslie began to dance to it between paintbrush strokes.

_I heard it on the radio_

_Let it be so I let go_

_To see if it..._

_Made a difference._

_I try to walk a different pace,_

_Show the world the other face,_

_I hide away_

_Because today..._

Jess took his new mother-in-law's hands and the two of them started dancing along as well, but all eyes were on Leslie and Bill, who were grinning broadly as they twirled around vigorously, occasionally backing off to play "air guitar", just as they had that day.

_Nothing's ever what it seems._

_You think you've got it figured out_

_Then find yourself another layer_

_And life can bring you to your knees_

_I'll lift you till you're fine_

_Do you wanna live in now or later?_

Those who weren't dancing along began clapping to the rhythm. Then everyone started cheering and whistling as Bill actually lifted Leslie by the waist and off her feet and swung her around for several revolutions while she laughed giddily, just as the two of them had when she was ten years old. The applause was so loud and enthusiastic that the DJ had to wait almost a full minute before starting the next song.

"Leslie, honey, the Old Man still has it!" Bill laughed, although breathing a little heavily, as he kissed and hugged her.

"Don't worry, Judy!" Jack Aarons called out, also laughing, "We've got a tube of Extra Strength Ben-Gay you can use when he wakes up in the morning stiff as a board!"

Judy hugged Bill as they stepped off the dance floor, both laughing. They both decided to sit out the next few dances, while Jess and Leslie started to circulate and each dance with the different opposite-sex members of the wedding party and other guests.

After over an hour of dancing, the DJ announced, "It's time for me to take a break, and while I'm doing so, I'm going to turn the show over to Candy Edmunds-Brubaker!"

Candy nodded in acknowledgement from the edge of the dance floor, then summoned Corinna and Joyce Ann behind the head table with her. As the two girls took several sets of papers from a box and started handing them out to the guests, she took her guitar out of its case and went to the podium.

"Hi," she smiled. "Those of you who went to Lark Creek Elementary know me as Mrs. Brubaker, except for a few of you older ones who knew me as Miss Edmunds. For you out-of-towners, I'm the Music teacher at Lark Creek Elementary and an old friend of both Leslie and Jess. What my daughter Cory and Jess's sister Joyce Ann are handing out are the lyrics to the songs that we sing in my classes, and we're just going to have a sing-along, which should stir up a bit of nostalgia for all you alumni of Lark Creek. But of course, everyone's welcome to join in! In fact, if you're really serious about joining in, why don't you bring your chairs up and get real close?"

Several of the guests, including almost all the Lark Creek teachers and former students, and most of Jess and Leslie's Eastwood classmates, moved their chairs up onto the dance floor in front of the head table. Leslie and Jess were still on the dance floor, and they took vacant chairs and sat together with the others rather than moving back behind the head table.

Candy waited for the shifting around, and for the girls to finish handing out the booklets, then said, "These are copies of my in-class songbook with a couple of additional songs added on that we don't sing in school, and we're not going to sing in the order they're numbered. We're going to start out with Number 17. Jess and Leslie consider this to be _their_ song, but as my husband Brad mentioned earlier, you can't slow dance to it, so we're getting to it now."

Jess and Leslie held hands as Candy began the opening chords and those gathered around started singing.

_There ain't a lot that you can do in this town_

_You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around_

_You go to school and you learn to read and write_

_So you can walk into the county bank and sign away your life..._

The newlyweds kept turning to look into each other's eyes and smile as they sang, just as they did when first introduced to the song in Fifth Grade. For Jess especially, the song carried the punch of his emotional roller coaster ride that first year of their relationship: smiling to each other as they sang it for the the first time as they were repairing the Castle; the nightmare alternate reality where he cried on his desktop, with Leslie's desk already removed, unable to sing at all as the others in his class sang in a subdued tone; then, after he'd had his "Groundhog Day" rewind and his life returned to him, singing it in that same class on that same day with Leslie back at her desk near his-- after they'd already begun kissing on a regular basis and had slept two nights in the same bed-- bursting with joy as they sang, Jess unashamedly weeping happy tears although Leslie was the only one aware of them.

_Someday I'm finally gonna let go_

_'cause I know there's a better way_

_And I wanna know what's over that rainbow_

_I'm gonna get out of here someday!_

It was that moment that Jess was reliving, tears and all, and Leslie knew it. She put both arms around him, crying happy tears as well, and occasionally smooching him between lines of the song.

._..I'm still hangin' round cause I'm a little bit small._

_I got me a '67 Chevy, she's low and sleek and black._

_Someday I'll put her on that interstate and never look back._

_Someday I'm finally gonna let go..._

After they finished to a round of applause, Candy took a bow and then smiled. "We'll get back to more of Jess and Leslie's favorites, but since we just finished that one, I like to do the next one, Number 18, back to back with it in my lessons to contrast in differences in songs with the same themes. So I'm going to do it here. That last one was about wanting to leave a small town, and that was written by Steve Earle in the 1980s. This one is about wanting to leave a large city, proving that the grass is usually if not always greener, and it was written by Eric Burdon in the 1960s so it's a little edgier and more despairing, but it has the same theme. Nowadays it's most popular with the military because of the chorus, and I didn't add this to my repertoire until my husband-to-be came home from a cruise in the Navy in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. So some of you older Lark Creek Alumni might not remember my singing it." She started playing on her guitar. "Also, Eric Burdon wrote this instrumental part for an electric bass, but I didn't feel like lugging around two instruments today, so try to imagine it being a couple of octaves lower." She paused for the laughter. "This one's for my husband Brad, our friends Janice and Rick, and anyone else here who's been in a War Zone!"

_In this dirty old heart of the city _

_Where the sun refused to shine _

_People tell me, there ain't no use in tryin'..._

_We gotta get out of this place! _

_If it's the last thing we ever do... _

_We gotta get out of this place, _

_'cause girl, there's a better life... for me and you!_...

They finished the song with more applause. Then Candy announced another one of Jess and Leslie's favorites that they'd sung back in Fifth Grade, _Ooh Child_.

"It's funny," Jess whispered to Leslie at the end of the song. "I hate to admit it, but Squoger and Vulture singing loud and off-key actually helps brings us back to the good old days in Elementary School."

"Yeah," Leslie smiled back. "But that doesn't make it okay for them to have crashed the wedding. But it's like Grandma says, it's the little imperfections that make this day our own, and I always find the glass half full because I'm her granddaughter!"

"Okay!" Candy announced. "That was from the early Seventies. John Fogerty's group Creedence Clearwater Revival was also a big name in that era, and I'd like to do something they did that's a lot more lighthearted and lively. So let's go to Number 26. Anyone who has more than a casual acquaintance with Jess and Leslie knows that the one thing they share the most and that brought them together as a couple is a vivid imagination, and this song celebrates that! Of course some critics of this song infer that the imagination in it is 'chemically enhanced'..." she paused for the burst of laughter, "...but in actuality, CCR was one of the few groups of that era that was _not_ drug-influenced, and this song is still one of Leslie and Jess's favorites regardless." She began picking at the guitar.

_Just got home from Illinois,_

_Locked the front door, oh boy!_

_Got to set down, take a rest on the porch._

_Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singin'_

_Doot doot doo lookin' out my back door._

Jess and Leslie again shot grinning glances at each other as they sang and clapped.

_There's a giant doin' cart wheels,_

_A statue wearing high heels._

_Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn._

_A dinosaur Victrola listenin' to Buck Owens,_

_Doot doot doo lookin' out my back door._

_Tambourines and elephants_

_Are playin' in the band._

_Won't you take a ride _

_On the flyin' spoon-- doot doo doo._

_Wondrous apparitions provided by magicians_

_Doot doot doo lookin' out my back door._

Candy continued with the guitar solos, and everyone clapping along as they sang the rest of the verses.

They went through most of Candy's repertoire including all of Leslie and Jess's favorites from her class. By the time they finished, the DJ was back at his setup, and then everyone moved their seats off the dance floor. Jess and Leslie stood on the floor and gave the DJ a nod.

"All right!" the DJ announced. "Brad and Candy Brubaker and I go back a few years, so I knew I could count on Candy to keep you entertained on my break. Once again, I'm Chuck LaMatte, your DJ for the evening, bringing you the best of the Oldies and today's favorites. And the Bride and Groom will lead off this set with another slow dance to a Seventies hit by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons that they thought very appropriate for their relationship, even if the lyrics do deviate a little from their exact circumstances."

The newlyweds started dancing, and were gradually joined by other couples, as the song started:

_My eyes adored you._

_Though I never laid a hand on you, _

_My eyes adored you..._

"That's how we started anyway!" Jess smiled

_Like a million miles away from me you couldn't see_

_How I adored you..._

"Even if it's a guy singing, that describes what I was thinking at the start!" Leslie noted.

"No," he replied. "May Belle was right! I was in love with you but didn't realize it at the start!"

_So close, so close_

_And yet so far!_

_Carried your books from school,_

_Playing make believe you're married to me._

_You were Fifth Grade, I was Sixth,_

_When we came to be..._

"We were _both_ Fifth!" she laughed, "but that's close enough for our purposes!"

_Walking home every day,_

_Over Barnegat Bridge and Bay..._

"Different bridge, different body of water," Jess smiled, "but good enough!"

_"'Til we grew into_

_The me and you_

_And went our separate ways..._

"I think from this point on, I think this song celebrates what _didn't_ happen between us!" Leslie said.

_My eyes adored you._

_Though I never laid a hand on you, _

_My eyes adored you..._

They danced a few more dances with various guests, and then Leslie sat down on the edge of the dance floor while Jess went to circulate. She wasn't sitting long when the Squoger and the Vulture struck.

"So," Hoager leered, "when do I get _my_ dance with the bride?"

"Hoager," Leslie sighed, "what's the temperature outside?"

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"I'm pretty sure it's still pretty hot out there," Leslie continued. "Close to ninety degrees, right?"

"So?"

"I think that's a pretty good indication that Hell hasn't frozen over. Go away!"

The two predators walked off. "Hell hasn't frozen over yet!" Fulcher laughed. "Gotta admit, Hoager! That was a good one!"

"Yeah, but we've gotta strike back," Hoager's frown reversed into a devilish grin. "I have an idea!"

* * *

Jess returned to Leslie's side. "What did those two want?"

"A dance with the Bride," she replied. "I told them it was too hot outside for Hell to have frozen over."

Jess chuckled briefly, then frowned. "Squoger and Vulture wanting to dance with you? You know they had nothing good or friendly in mind with that."

"Yeah," Leslie grimaced and shuddered. "I could just picture those two trying to get their hands all over me. Ewww!"

"Remember! Basic physics: pressure will seek its relief elsewhere when denied a release. Keep your eyes open."

"I know."

* * *

"Come on!" Hoager scoffed. "You don't have it? You seem to have a lot of other oldies from the Eighties and Seventies."

"Sorry, son!" Chuck the DJ said. "I made a point of not even bringing the disk that I have that on."

"Aw, you're no fun!" Fulcher grumbled.

"It's in bad taste!" Chuck glared back at him and then stood up so that his burly weightlifter's frame easily overshadowed even Fulcher. "I know the song, and there's no way I'd play Rick Springfield's _Jessie's Girl_ at a wedding where the groom's name is Jesse! Even if I wasn't specifically asked not to. Especially when the Best Man is in the same Naval Reserve unit I'm in and outranks me!"

They walked away from the DJ's station. "We still gotta strike back!" Fulcher said.

"I'm thinking!" Hoager replied.

They began roaming around the tables and came past one table where two girls in their late teens, both with a familiar shade of blonde hair and other familiar features, sat talking.

"Hello," Hoager smiled. "You two look kinda familiar. You're not from Lark Creek, though, right?"

"No," one of them replied. "We're Leslie's cousins. I'm Tricia and this is my sister Glenda. Our mom is Leslie's dad's sister."

"Of course!" Hoager grinned. "I can see the resemblance! I'm Scott and this is Gary! Both of us are old friends of Leslie and Jess. Would you care to dance?"

* * *

Leslie saw her two cousins, eighteen year old Tricia and sixteen year old Glenda, approach her parents. Both were rather visibly upset.

"Uncle Billy! Aunt Judy!" Tricia said.

"Yes, Tricia?" Bill replied.

"Those two guys over there just got fresh with me and Glenda!"

Bill looked across the dance floor and frowned. Hoager and Fulcher were laughing rather loudly as they stepped off toward the bar. "What did they do?"

"We were dancing with them," Glenda said, "and the red-haired guy grabbed my butt!"

"And then the guy with the Mullet asked me if I lived in a cave like my cousin," Tricia said. "I didn't know what he meant by that, but then he started looking downward at me and said, 'I can think of a few caves I'd like to explore with you!'"

Bill fumed and stood up. "All right! That does it!" He called over to Brad. "Come on, Brad! Let's go find the manager! Leslie, Jess, you two can just stay where you are. We'll handle this."

"Daddy..."

"Leslie, honey, this has gone far enough! I know you don't want a scene, but on top of insulting you, they just molested your cousins! And Glenda's still a minor, don't forget!"

Brad had stood up as well. They were turning toward the door when Janice and Rick got up.

"What's going on, Mr. Burke?" Janice asked.

"Those two hooligan wedding crashers just got fresh with Leslie's cousins. One of whom is under age! We're going to go get security."

Janice's eyes flashed as she glanced at Rick and returned to Bill. "You want us to handle it?"

"Better let security do it," Brad patted her shoulder.

"This is a job for the Marines, _Commander_!" she grinned back slyly. "We'll get rid of Hoager and Fulcher for you. Nice and quiet, with no big scenes." She turned to Leslie and Jess, still with a sly grin. "On one condition!"

The Bride and Groom glanced at each other in apprehension. "What?" Leslie asked.

"Just that you two of you drop this whole 'We neither confirm nor deny' BS and 'fess up to the Willard Hughes love note!"

"Today _is_ the day for coming clean!" Bill reminded them with a smile.

Jess and Leslie looked at each other, then laughed and shook their heads.

"All right!" Leslie rolled her eyes. "We did it! 'Dear Janice. I think you're the coolest girl in our school... Meet me at the bus stop and we can talk about US!' Okay?"

"You _know_ we did it!" Jess sighed.

"Finally!" Janice laughed. "After nearly ten years! Of course I knew! But as they say, confession is good for the soul."

"Now everyone sit back," Rick smiled, "relax, and watch _our_ brand of chain-yanking at work!"

"Remember, Sergeant," Brad cautioned, "you're still in uniform. Do _not_ disgrace it!"

"Oh, disgrace is the farthest thing from our minds, sir!" Rick grinned. "In fact, if this idea that Jan came up with works, this could go down in Marine Corps folklore, right next to the can of soup gag in _The Great Santini._"

* * *

"Hey, guys!" Janice smiled as she and Rick approached the bar.

"Oh!" Hoager looked at her. "Janice. And, uh..."

"Rick," he reminded them.

"Hey, listen," Janice said contritely. "We kinda left things on a bad note earlier, and that's no way to treat a couple of fellow Lark Creek school alumni!"

"Sure," Fulcher laughed. "Whatever!"

"So," Rick slapped his shoulder, "what are you guys drinking?"

"Oh," Hoager replied, holding up a champagne glass, "this Dome Pear-RIG-None stuff."

"Yeah!" Fulcher laughed. "'slike Coors, only with more kick!"

Rick's face soured. Even Janice, who didn't drink, knew what a waste of the most expensive champagne available that attitude meant.

"Tell ya!" Hoager laughed. "For a guy who doesn't even own a TV set, Cave Girl's Old Man sure threw quite a bash for her and Aarons!"

"Yeah!" Rick nodded, then smiled. "But you don't want to drink that wussy imported French stuff! Why don't you join me in a _real man's_ drink? The best that Dixie has to offer!"

"Oh!" Hoager scoffed. "You think just 'cause you're a big bad Marine, you're the only one who can handle the hard stuff?" He jabbed a finger into Rick's chest. "Me an' Fulcher will match you shot for shot. Right, Gar?"

"Shot for shot!" Fulcher echoed. "You name the poison!"

Rick turned to the bartender and slapped a five dollar bill on the bar as a tip. "Hey! As long as this is an open bar, let's make this easy for you! Can you just give us an unopened bottle of Jack Daniel's, a bucket of ice and four glasses? And a bottle of seltzer."

"Sir," the bartender replied, "don't you think these two have had enough?"

"That's okay," Janice said quickly. "The seltzer's for me. I'm the designated driver, since I don't drink anyway."

"Yeah," Fulcher chuckled. "If my Old Man was a drunk who beat me every night, I wouldn't drink either!"

Janice felt herself flushing and her body again tightening for a fight, but Rick immediately grabbed her into a hug that concealed her face from the other two as they laughed and bumped fists.

"Remember, _Sergeant Avery_!" Rick whispered into her ear, "We're setting up an ambush! Stay still, keep quiet, let the enemy walk into the Kill Zone. Wait for the right moment to squeeze the trigger!" He kissed her and stroked her back as she took a few deep breaths and let her body unwind.

When Rick turned back to the bar, the bartender had done what he had asked. He took the bottle of whiskey in one hand, the bottle of seltzer in the other, then draped his arms across the shoulders of Hoager and Fulcher while Janice placed the four glasses on top of the ice inside the small plastic bucket. "Come on!" Rick said. "Let's see if we can find a nice quiet table out on that back porch there..."

* * *

Janice and Rick were back inside in plenty of time for the bouquet and garter toss, and in fact were the respective recipients of the two items. Although May Belle herself had grown the African violets that were in the bouquet, there seemed to be a tacit understanding between her, her female cousins and Leslie's that they were all too young to be identified by the tradition as being the next to marry. Big sister Brenda was pretty much known to be avoidant of any long-term commitments, so that left it mostly to Leslie's current and former schoolmates, and although most of those were also her track teammates, none of those athletes were a match for Sergeant Janice Avery, US Marine Corps Reserve, in speed and aggressiveness when Leslie tossed the bouquet in her general direction.

The same applied to Rick when Jess tossed the garter. Just before tossing it, Jess got this mental image of Hoager or Fulcher committing what in football would be considered pass interference on the others, and then it dawned on him that they were nowhere to be seen, just as promised.

* * *

"You guys really have to leave so soon?" Leslie asked. The sun was still up as most of the wedding party-- minus both sets of parents-- all walked across the parking lot.

"We're just going to Rick's room at the motel," Janice told them. "That way our two guests will still be stranded without their own wheels in case they wake up in the middle of the night. Then we're going to take a little road trip before dawn and take care of them."

"You two will still be back for brunch at my parents', right?" Leslie asked.

"We should. Remember, my car's still there. But just in case, we'll call your folks if we're gonna be late."

Jess looked at the comatose forms of the Squoger and the Hairy Vulture in the back of Rick's Chevy Blazer. He thought about how, in the alternate reality a long time ago, he'd bloodied Hoager's nose and Janice had bloodied Fulcher's in two separate incidents. He squeezed Leslie's hand and smiled to himself. Not only was those incidents not having happened in this reality a small price to pay for Leslie's life, but this was going to be even better! "Joyce Ann!" he called over. "Quick! Give Janice and Rick my camera and all the blank memory cards you have!"

* * *

Scott Hoager awoke to the hums of an automobile engine and tires, and the vibrations and gentle but uneven rocking that suggested movement down a paved road. Despite the gentleness, his head hurt from it; either someone had taken a baseball bat to the back of his head, or he was having the worst hangover of his young life. Maybe both. He opened his eyes to see the familiar face of his best friend Gary Fulcher, sprawled on his belly, asleep and drooling, then looked around and saw that the two of them were both lying down in the back of a van or SUV. He strained to see who was driving and couldn't see, but in the front passenger seat was a vaguely familiar head of frizzy strawberry-blonde hair.

"Fulcher!" he nudged him. "Wake up!"

Fulcher opened his eyes, obviously in as much pain as his friend. "Huh? Where are we?"

"You're asking _me_?"

"Have we been kidnapped?" Fulcher squinted.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember was crashing Loser and Cave Girl's wedding, and being at the bar when Janice Avery and her boyfriend walked up to us..." _That's who the frizzy strawberry blonde hair belongs to!_ Hoager suddenly remembered.

"Hey, guys!" Janice looked over her shoulder at Hoager. He lifted his aching head at the same time as Fulcher. They saw that her boyfriend Rick was driving the SUV, and both were wearing khaki shirts.

"If you guys want breakfast," Janice continued, "we can stop at the next McDonalds or Hardee's we pass."

Hoager's head hurt even more. "Breakfast?" He saw that they had just passed a sign that indicated they were heading south on US Highway 17 and that the sun was on their left so that it was, indeed, morning. "Where are we?"

"We just crossed the state line into North Carolina about a half hour ago," Rick replied.

"North Carolina?" Fulcher blanched. "What the hell are we doing here?"

"You guys really don't remember!" Janice looked at them.

"Like I said," Hoager replied, "the last thing I remember is you two coming up to us at the bar at the wedding."

"Hmmm!" Janice frowned. "Is it still legal, Rick?"

"Yeah!" Rick nodded. "They signed the papers, you and I witnessed for both of them. _We_ don't know that they were legally intoxicated when they signed and took the Oath."

"I guess you're right!" Janice shrugged. "For that matter, I don't even know that their IDs to get drinks were fake! I mean, Leslie and Jess are both under the legal drinking age, but these two _might_ have been left back when they were in the early grades and might really be older!"

Hoager and Fulcher both began to hyperventilate. "Papers? Oath? Witnesses?" Fulcher gulped. "Dude, we didn't, like, get married or something, did we?"

"There's no same-sex marriage in Virginia, stupid!" Hoager backhanded Fulcher's arm. "And what would that have to do with driving into North Carolina?" He turned back to Janice. "So why _are_ we in North Carolina exactly?"

"We're just passing through, heading further south," Janice smiled.

"To where?" Hoager gulped.

"Parris Island, _South_ Carolina," Rick said matter-of-factly. "United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot!" Then his voice became deeper, growling and more malevolent: "Semper Fi, maggots!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hoager and Fulcher screamed.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**I have a general disdain for Songfic, and this was not intended as a "Songfic" chapter in the sense of centering the story around a song; however, if you read some of my fanfics from other genres (i.e. my _The Wonder Years_/_Tour of Duty_ crossover stories which are available only on my home page, and my _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_/_Kolchak: The Night Stalker_ crossover series here on fanfic dot net) you'll see that I'm not at all averse to throwing in some song lyrics as they fit a situation. And the Sixties and Seventies, the era when I grew up and whose music Miss Edmunds specialized in in the movie (carrying over from the book) had a lot of great songs, and I think Leslie and Jess would have developed a fondness for a lot of songs of that era-- more than just _Why Can't We Be Friends?_ and _Ooh Child_-- that would have reflected their own relationship nicely. I particularly had to have Jess and Leslie slow dance to _Love Can Make You Happy_ and _My Eyes Adored You_. I also wanted to throw in _Day After Day_ by Badfinger, but decided it was too gloomy a song for a wedding. **

**And apparently, John Fogerty was not consuming anything illegal when he wrote _Looking Out My Back Door_, and had written it for his young son to nurture his imagination, just like those of a certain fictional young couple we all know and love. And what he described sure could've been seen in Terabithia!**

**Comments are, as always, invited and encouraged. Again, no promises as to how soon the next chapter will be up.**


	8. Chapter 8

ROYAL COURT OF TERABITHIA

or

"Jess and Leslie, sitting in a tree..."

by

Mad Tom

* * *

Chapter 8

Even though it was around nine at night when they left the country club, since it was so close to the summer solstice, it was still twilight when the three limousines returned to the driveway between the Burke and Aarons homes and discharged their passengers. The chauffeurs helped the passengers to carry the armloads of wedding presents and leftover food into the Burkes' home.

"Janice and Rick aren't _really_ taking those two guys all the way to South Carolina tomorrow, are they?" Joyce Ann asked.

"No, Joycie," Jess replied. "Parris Island is almost on the Georgia state line, across from Savannah, near where Grandma and Aunt Barb live."

"And you can't _really_ enlist in the service and get shipped off to Boot Camp overnight," May Belle added. "You have to get a medical exam, pass an aptitude test, get your school transcripts and a background check with your fingerprints..."

"But Squoger and Vulture probably don't know that!" Leslie giggled. "Janice and Rick are just going to take them as far south as they can to scare the bejeezus out of them and still make it back here in time for brunch. If they make good time and get some good videos, they _might_ go as far as Rick's office in Camp Lejeune so they can EMail the videos to us. Then they'll take some back roads so that Hoager and Fulcher don't realize right away that they're heading back north."

"Squoger and Vulture on YouTube!" Jess laughed. "Being told they're on the way to Marine Boot Camp!"

"Actually, Jess," Leslie said, "_not_ putting it on YouTube has a lot of blackmail mileage in it!" She looked over to the non-stretch limousine just as the two grandmothers were getting out. "Grandma, you were right! The glass _is_ half full!"

"That's good to know," Grandma Burke called back. "Whatever you mean by that, I told you so!"

"Ours was the last wedding those two will ever crash!" Jess added.

When they entered the Burke home, Prince Terrien barked as he bounded up to the newlyweds, and Leslie knelt down and let him jump up into her arms and lick her face. "PT! Sorry the club wouldn't let you be there, but we've got plenty of great leftovers for you!"

After the presents and several containers of the buffet leftovers were brought in, Leslie carefully packed away the veil and tiara but kept the rest of her ensemble on, while May Belle and Joyce Ann went into one of the spare bedrooms and changed out of their gowns and sandals into jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. Leslie took PT's food bowl and let him feast on piles of scraps of prime rib and other foods.

Leslie and Jess waited for all the members of both families to let the celebration continue back in full swing in the Gold Room. They went first to Leslie's parents.

"Mom, Dad," Leslie said softly. "We're ready to start our honeymoon, but we don't want to make a big scene of leaving, so we're just going to say our good nights to everyone individually and try to slip out as quietly as we can."

Judy hugged and kissed both of them, and then Bill hugged both and kissed Leslie. When the newlyweds said the same thing to Jess's parents, Nancy and Jack did the same. Jess and Leslie circulated around the room as quietly and unobtrusively as they could, explaining their wish for a quiet departure, then successfully slipped out the back door with May Belle, Joyce Ann and PT.

Jess took the wheel of Jack's pickup as Leslie, his sisters and the dog piled in. The sliver of twilight in the western sky was getting narrower, and as they headed down the dirt driveway between the Burke and Aarons homes towards Terabithia, it was getting harder and harder to make out anything outside the headlight beams. Fortunately, after nearly ten years of traveling the route on foot, it didn't take much effort to find their way along the cattle pasture fence at the end of the driveway and into the woods and the farthest point they could take the pickup.

Jess left the headlights on as they got out. May Belle produced a military-issue crook-necked flashlight. "I'll go turn on the generator," she announced as she rushed ahead in the headlight beams. The others watched as she moved in and around the trees, shining the flashlight around where they had set up the two pup tents and the generator two days before. Presently, they heard the coughing and then steady hum of a small gasoline engine, and then a second later the pup tent/generator/bridge area was bathed in the light of an electric lamp hanging from a tree branch. Jess turned off the headlights, and beyond the lamp, they could see two strings of white Christmas Tree-type lights outlining the archway and railings on the bridge and running up and into the woods in the direction of the Castle.

"Whoa!" Jess gasped. "It's beautiful!"

"This is just the start!" Leslie beamed. "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" She took him by the hand and led him toward the lit area. Joyce Ann brought up the rear as Prince Terrien trotted ahead, past May Belle and the generator and across the bridge.

"PT! No!" Leslie called. "Come back here!"

Prince Terrien came bounding back across the bridge; at over nine years old, he would be in his mid to late sixties in "people years", but he was still springy and energetic in his gait. Leslie lowered to one knee on the grass and scooped him up as he leaped into her arms. As she stood up fully, she kissed her dog on the nose and then let him lick her face.

"PT, my old friend," she smiled tearfully, "you've been a part of my relationship with Jess almost from the very start." She sniffled. "I think the moment Jess gave you to me was the moment I knew I loved him and that I was going to marry him some day! Now that that day has come, I'm sorry, but you don't get to cross the creek with us this time. And as for your responsibilities as a Virgin Alarm..." she burst out laughing as she tossed the dog into May Belle's unsuspecting arms, "they are hereby shifted forever!"

"Hey!" May Belle protested as she steadied her balance to catch him.

Leslie clasped both hands of her new husband and the two of them smiled in anticipation. "Well," she said to him, "the doorway to the Castle is way too small for you to carry me across, and we've always considered the creek to be the boundary to Terabithia, so you get to carry me across the bridge. I don't expect you to carry me all the way to the Castle unless you want to, but this is the threshold! Ready, my King?"

"Ready, my Queen!"

They kissed as he placed his left arm across her back and she jumped up and hooked her right arm around his neck and the backs of her knees over his right arm. They and the two Princesses all giggled like little kids as he proceeded to carry her down the center of the bridge.

Somewhere about halfway across, there was a sudden cracking sound and Jess felt the plank under his right foot give out from under him, and then felt something smack him hard in the butt. He reflexively pulled his foot back up and then found himself struggling to regain his footing and balance while continuing to carry Leslie. Then they both screamed as he crashed into the railing on his left. The railing held for only a split-second and then before he was aware of anything else, he and Leslie had splashed into the cold, rushing waters of the creek.

"LESLIE!!!" he screamed, flailing his legs and right arm to get his head above the surface. The terror of the events that Spring day nine years earlier in Fifth Grade came crashing back into his mind. But somehow he'd had the presence of mind to grab onto her upper arm with his left hand and hold on.

"I'm okay, Jess!" Leslie shouted back quickly, wrapping both arms around him. He looked around in the darkness and saw that they had fallen and drifted about ten or fifteen feet downstream from the bridge; the string of lights on the near railing were now hanging and sagging a few inches above the water. He sensed that by Leslie grabbing him, they had stopped moving downstream and that the current was washing past them.

"Jess, you can quit kicking and stand up!" she added.

"Huh?" he asked numbly between gasps.

"The water's only chest deep." In the dim light, he could see her smiling. Jess felt around with his feet and quickly found the bottom of the creek. Since he was that much taller, it was to him only a little above waist deep. He calmed down quickly, although the flashback to Leslie's death in that alternate reality so long ago still had him badly shaken.

"You guys all right?" May Belle shouted from the bridge. A second later, it got a little brighter as she and Joyce Ann had each turned on a flashlight and started sweeping the area around the couple.

"I'm all right!" Leslie called back.

"Yeah, me too," Jess said finally after shaking his head clear. His sisters found the two of them with their light beams and they all saw that Leslie was leaning against a rock protruding out of the embankment, to anchor the two of them in place. Jess and Leslie looked up and saw the remnants of the old rope hanging above them; they were leaning against the same rock that she had hit her head on and drowned in that alternate universe.

The two of them clung tightly to each other and kissed for several seconds, Leslie realizing how traumatized and in need of comfort and reassurance Jess was. Then she started giggling, and then gradually laughing more loudly. Finally, Jess started laughing along with her, almost hysterically, squeezing her tight.

Leslie pulled herself up on the rock and through the underbrush on the bank, with Jess following closely and protectively behind. They worked their way back the short distance to the bridge in a few seconds with his sisters' flashlights guiding them, leaving a trail of dripping water that started to pool under them when they stopped, back on the end of the bridge. Prince Terrien came rushing up and tried to nuzzle under the dripping hem of Leslie's gown. The two sisters laughed at the sight of the soaking wet bride and groom, while Jess was vacillating between laughter and terror.

"What the heck just happened?" Leslie wheezed, still laughing.

"I don't know," Jess shook his head. "I just lost my footing. I think my foot broke through the planking."

May Belle trained her flashlight on the planking. One plank at dead center was indeed broken and collapsed at the far end while the near end was sticking upward. "Yeah," she nodded in agreement. "And the other end kinda seesawed up and smacked you in the butt. The nails were probably rusted through. And you did have the weight of both of you on that one foot, and it's over the gap between the two tree trunks so there was nothing underneath to stop it." She paused thoughtfully. "Maybe it's the Dark Master's way of jumping up and biting you in the butt again, and finally dumping Leslie in the creek, just once on the way to Happily Ever After."

"The Dark Master," Leslie nodded. "Or Fate. Or Karma. Whatever you want to call it."

Jess was laughing and crying at the same time as he squeezed her tight again. "Lord, I was so scared, Leslie!"

"I know, Jess. I'm okay! Really!" She gave him another soothing kiss.

"And your wedding gown is ruined! I'm sorry!"

"No. Silk is washable, so a dip in the creek won't harm it." Leslie shook her head with a smile. "Now, your tux, on the other hand..."

"You want to go back to your house and change?" he asked.

"No need to!" she said quickly. "We'd just get both my folks and yours all agitated for no good reason. I've already put a few changes of clothing in the Castle for both of us. Not that we're gonna need any until we go back in for brunch late in the morning."

"So," Joyce Ann smiled, leaning over and holding Prince Terrien by the collar, "you guys want to try that again?"

"Only this time," May Belle added, "I suggest you stay over one of the tree trunks where it's solid underneath. I suggest the right side where the railing is still intact." She paused and smiled, "And Jess, don't be too proud to put her down if you feel the planks starting to give!"

"Groom carries Bride across threshold, Take Two!" Leslie giggled as she again hooked her arm around Jess's neck and jumped up into his arms. They were still dripping water as Jess, following May Belle's advice, carried Leslie along the right side of the bridge, stepping slowly and gently, particularly if a plank creaked underfoot. He did so, breathing heavily and smiling nervously at his bride, all the way until he stepped on solid ground at the far side of the bridge and creek.

Leslie slid herself off his arms and onto her own feet, then raised her right fist into the air. "We rule Terabithia--" she shouted into the night.

"_--and nothing crushes us!_" Jesse and his sisters joined in the second half of her shout and fist-raising. The bride and groom kissed again to the applause of May Belle and Joyce Ann.

"All right, we'll see you guys in the morning!" Leslie called back to the sisters.

"May Belle," Jess added, "if you two need to go back in before we wake up, you can drive the truck back without us. We can walk."

"Thanks!" May Belle replied. "You two enjoy yourselves!"

"Have fun!" Joyce Ann giggled.

Leslie grabbed Jess by the hand and led him along the strings of lights toward the Castle. In all the years, they very rarely went into Terabithia at night, and even then using flashlights or Coleman lanterns. The strings of lights added a dimension of magic that hypnotized them with wonder. Even Leslie, who had strung them up, had not seen their full effect until now.

"Hey, Jess?"

"Yes, _Mrs. Aarons_?" he smiled.

"You're not going through another _Groundhog Day_ thing, are you?"

"No, Leslie. I think I would've told you if I was. And I _definitely_ would've stayed over one of the tree trunks the first time we tried to cross."

"Then I don't think it was the Dark Master who dumped us in the creek. We beat him when you saved my life nine years ago, Jess. I think he's gone!"

"Well, Leslie, I don't think it's just a coincidence that tonight of all nights, one of the planks happens to break."

"Well, the bridge _is_ nine years old, and as May Belle pointed out, we did have the weight of both of us on your one foot at the time. But no, I don't think it's a coincidence either."

"Then maybe God needed to remind me to never ever take you for granted."

Leslie laughed and gave him a squeeze. "Trust me, Jess! You are the last person in the universe who needs to be reminded not to take me for granted!" She paused thoughtfully before adding, "Jess, I converted and even got my parents going back to church, and you know I love your whole family dearly, but you guys are still too hung up on the 'nailing holes in your hand' part of Christianity! Did it ever occur to you that maybe it's just that God's showing us that He has a sense of humor? That He just gave you an affectionate little slap on the butt, telling you to have a good time and enjoy yourself?" She grinned and her eyes gleamed. "And enjoy _me_?"

He grinned back and kissed her. The tension in his body was much less. But it wasn't gone completely. "But if it _was_ an Act of God, and He isn't reminding me not to take you for granted, then why'd He let us fall in the creek?"

"To make us take our clothes off faster, silly! _And_ just to show His sense of humor!"

The hulk of the old pickup truck, partly outlined by the strings of lights, came into view ahead of them, just as a gentle breeze rang the wind chimes inside it. "That was _not_ lucky timing!" Leslie added.

"Okay, I'll buy that!"

They continued on, walking faster now, past the old pickup until the Castle came into view before them, magnificently outlined by the strings of white lights. Again, Leslie had been the one to string them up but was seeing them in the dark for the first time, and it took her breath away as well as Jess's.

"Whoa!" Jess gasped. "It looks just like the boathouses in Philadelphia! Remember when we saw them during the Penn Relays?"

"Uh hmm," Leslie smiled. "That's exactly the effect I was going for!"

"It's beautiful! Just like the girl who set it up!"

"Thanks."

They walked up to the rungs of the Castle steps. The strings of lights had been wrapped around a series of outdoor extension cords, and near the base of the Castle two of the cords had been disconnected. Leslie connected them, and a number of brighter lights came on: a set of lamps inside the Castle, one floodlight above the doorway to the Castle to light up the porch, and two more mounted underneath the porch to light up the ground around them. Jess saw Leslie reaching from one of the lower branches near the rungs for two wooden hangers.

"I wasn't expecting you to climb up in your full tux and me in my gown," Leslie said as she handed him one of the hangers. "Of course, I hadn't planned on us being thoroughly drenched too!"

He removed his tuxedo jacket and hung it up on the branch as she turned her back to him. "Could you unzip me, please?" she asked him.

"With pleasure," he grinned, kissing her neck and shoulders as he pulled down her zipper tab. She slipped off the gown, leaving herself in her strapless slip and other undergarments and her white high top sneakers. She took one of the hangers and hung up the gown on the branch as Jess pulled off his tuxedo jacket and hung it up with the other hanger.

Leslie looked down at sneakers and laughed. "Jess, you know there's always a method to my madness. I wasn't just flaunting the Leslie Burke Specials. There's also no way I was going to try to climb up to the Castle in the kind of sandals that May Belle, Joyce Ann, Candy and Janice decided on wearing."

The two of them started up the rungs, with Leslie first and Jess following, the way he had always insisted ever since the rope across the creek broke over nine years earlier, so that he could break her fall if she ever slipped, or the rungs or the rope they used to pull themselves up broke. This was also an inside joke between them; although she knew that he was absolutely sincere in his intent to protect her, since she had stripped down to swim across the creek-- and Jess joined her after the initial shock-- the day the rope swing broke, she jokingly accused him of doing it just to keep looking up at her tush.

They reached the porch of the Castle, and Jess looked inside: he knew Leslie had spent the last three days doing renovations for tonight, and was amazed to see that the interior had become a blend of its former self and their off-campus apartment: all his artwork from over the years was still on the walls but straightened out and spruced up, and filling nearly the entire floor space was the Queen-sized air mattress she had purchased, with the pillows, bedsheets and summer-weight quilt from their apartment. An open soft-sided suitcase filled with several items of their clothing sat on top of their snack storage shelf.

"You've really been dreaming of this since Fifth Grade!" he smiled.

"Like I just said to him, since the day you gave PT to me!" Leslie grinned. "Remember, that was the first time I hugged you, and you kind of turned your head like you weren't sure what to do next?"

"Of course I remember!"

"I wanted to play tonsil hockey!" she laughed. "But that's okay! We've more than made up for that one day!"

They sat side by side on the porch, untying and removing their shoes and shaking the water out of them, then taking off and wringing out their socks. Then they stood and undressed the rest of the way, Jess reaching inside and placing his bowtie, dress shirt studs and cufflinks inside a plastic drinking cup on one shelf, and the contents of his pockets next to the cup.

"There are towels in the suitcase," Leslie told him as she draped their wet clothes over the porch rail.

He came back out with one towel and smiled, "Allow me!"

He kissed her, and then she giggled as he dabbed the towel over her face and then started running it downward along her body. The floodlight was bright enough for him to see that she was flushed. "It's funny," Leslie said. "We've been sleeping in the same bed and swimming and running around naked together on a regular basis for nine years-- we've watched each other grow up-- and I'm still a little nervous!"

"Me too!" Jess breathed. "Yeah, we've done all that, but we also drew some very carefully drawn boundaries, and stuck to them."

"And now," Leslie smiled, taking the towel after Jess finished drying her, and then proceeding to dry him off in the same way, "there are no more boundaries!"

When finished, she dropped the towel and the two of them pressed against each other with a deep kiss. Without stopping, Leslie reached up and loosened the floodlight bulb, leaving them in the dim lights of the lamp inside the Castle and the light in the area below them reflected from the lower floodlights. They continued to kiss as they stepped inside, pulled back the quilt and top sheet, then settled onto the mattress.

"_Jess and Leslie sitting in a tree!..._" May Belle's and Joyce Ann's voices shouted from the direction of the creek, over the hum of the generator. "_K-I-S-S-I-N-G!_"

The newlyweds burst out laughing. "Those two are so predictable!" Jess shook his head.

"_First comes love! Then comes marriage!_

_Then comes Jess with a baby carriage!_"

The couple resumed kissing and began some intimate fondling. Then they heard first the faint hiss of dead air from a boom box or some other sound system, and then the familiar and unmistakable chords of Candy Edmunds-Brubaker's guitar, soon accompanied by a chorus of voices.

_There ain't a lot that you can do in this town._

_You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around..._

"Now _that_ I wouldn't have predicted!" Leslie laughed.

"I guess they must've recorded the sing-along at the reception."

_You go to school and you learn to read and write,_

_So you can walk into the county bank and sign away your life..._"

Leslie listened for a few seconds. "No, that's all kids' voices! And there's no real background noise."

_I work at the fillin' station on the interstate,_

_Pumpin gasoline and countin' out of state plates..._

"Sounds just like our old class in Fifth Grade! I guess they recorded Joyce Ann's class singing with Candy," Jess smiled.

_They ask me "How far into Memphis son, and where's the nearest beer?"_

_And they dont even know that theres a town around here!_

"No!" Leslie smiled, "It's a choir of Terabithian children serenading their King and Queen!"

"On the happiest night of their lives!" Jess smiled back.

_Someday I'm finally gonna let go,_

_'cause I know there's a better way,_

_And I wanna know what's over that rainbow!_

_I'm gonna get out of here someday!..._

"I love you, Jess!"

"I love you too, Leslie!"

And the King and Queen of Terabithia proceeded to consummate a marriage that had been ten years in the making, and to live happily ever after.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**Well, that's it for now. I can't say when I'll do another _Bridge to Terabithia_ fanfic. It all depends on when my muses kiss me again. I'm open to requests and suggestions for new storylines from anyone and everyone. In the meantime, I'll still be active playing Bill Burke (and other characters as needed) on the BtT Role Play site. And looking forward to the BtT fanfics of others, especially those whom I've included in my Favorite Authors list. **

**Comments are, as always, invited.**


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